PRIME MINISTER

Future Aircraft Carriers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister For what reason the construction of the Future Aircraft Carriers has been delayed.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr. Quentin Davies) to my hon. Friend the Member for Jarrow (Mr. Hepburn) on Monday 23
	February 2009,  Official Report, column 10.

INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS

Adult Education: Mathematics

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many adult learners have taken GCSE mathematics in each year since 1990.

Si�n Simon: holding reply 27 January 2009
	The following table shows the number of learners in further education undertaking GCSE Mathematics in each academic year since 2003-04 by age group, the earliest year for which we have comparable information.
	
		
			  Learners in further education undertaking GCSE Mathematics by age 
			  Age  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Under 16 100 200 100 100 100 
			 16-18 43,600 41,500 38,700 37,500 34,500 
			 19+ 23,400 22,200 20,000 18,200 15,800 
			 Total 67,100 63,900 58,800 55,900 50,400 
			  Notes: 1. Age is based on age as at 31 August (academic age). 2. This information does not include learners studying GCSE Mathematics in Schools or Higher Education Institutions. 3. If a learner is studying GCSE Mathematics over more than one year, they will be counted in each year for which they are studying.  Source: FE ILR 
		
	
	Awarding body data on GCSE examination entries is analysed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as part of the School and College Achievement and Attainment Tables publication. However, this work only covers qualifications entered for by 16-18 year olds. Therefore, we do not have information readily available on adults being entered for GCSE Mathematics examinations.
	Due to the increased number of pupils taking and successfully passing a Maths GCSE at school, we would expect the volume of learners studying this qualification at a Further Education College to fall. In 1997, there were 534,700 15 year olds (academic age) attempting GCSE Mathematics and 250,300 achieving a C grade or higher (around 50 per cent. of those attempting the subject). In 2004, 606,000 pupils attempted GCSE Mathematics at the end of Key Stage 4 with 318,900 achieving a grade A*-C (around 53 per cent. of those attempting the subject). In 2008, 609,700 pupils attempted GCSE Mathematics at the end of Key Stage 4, with 361,100 achieving a grade A*-C (59 per cent. of those attempting the subject).
	Over the last few years the Government have prioritised funding towards longer and fuller programmes such as full level 2 qualifications (equivalent of 5 A*-C GCSEs or vocational equivalent) away from a higher number of shorter courses. This has increased the number of adults achieving the broad platform of skills for entering and progressing into employment, but has necessarily resulted in an overall reduction in the number of LSC funded adult learners over this period.
	A GCSE may not necessarily be the most appropriate learning outcome for many learners and colleges have been encouraged to advise learners to study the most relevant qualification to them. In 2007-08, learners on apprenticeship programmes (all ages) undertook over 156,000 Key Skills qualifications in Application of Number.

Fines

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  whether any administrative financial penalties may be levied by his Department and its agencies;
	(2)  what administrative financial penalties may be levied by his Department and its agencies.

David Lammy: As a matter of general administrative policy the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills does not levy financial penalties against third party organisations or individuals.
	However, under the Education (Student Support) (Repayment) Regulations 2000 (as amended), the borrower may be charged a penalty in relation to their income contingent student loan where:
	they have failed to provide their home address or name changes within six weeks (50);
	they have failed to comply with an Information Notice which has been served on them (100);
	the borrower has been liable to pay a penalty in respect of an Information Notice and has not paid by the specified date, an additional penalty may be charged (100).

Higher Education: Admissions

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what percentage of university entrants were home schooled in each of the last 10 years.

David Lammy: This information is not held centrally.

Nanotechnology

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what research his Department has funded on  (a) ethical,  (b) environmental and  (c) social issues relating to the (i) use and (ii) safety of (A) nanotechnology and (B) nanoproducts; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills' delivery partners, the Research Councils and the Technology Strategy Board, funded through the science and research, and innovation budgets respectively, support a portfolio of research and related activities on a wide range of aspects of nanotechnology. I have arranged for a document with details to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses. It is not possible to divide the research into the categories requested, but, where possible, an indication has been given as to whether the research is addressing environmental, social, use or safety issues. The Government placed a statement about nanotechnologies in the Libraries on 28 February 2008 (House of Lords Hansard, column WS86 refers).
	The Government regard nanotechnologies as an important issue, and has established a ministerial group chaired by the Minister for Science and Innovation to support their development in a responsible way.

Research: Small Businesses

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what progress has been made on the commitment in the Innovation Nation White Paper to extend the revised Small Business Research Initiative to all participating departments by April 2009.

David Lammy: As stated in Innovation Nation, the revised format for SBRI has been prototyped with pilot competitions by the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health. Each Department ran two competitions in 2008, and each competition elicited a number of innovative responses from industry, demonstrating that the programme, in its revised form, has considerable potential to benefit departments as well as innovative companies. Experience from these pilots is being used to define the standard process, documentation, and support infrastructure needed for broader deployment, and to demonstrate the value of SBRI as a powerful innovation mechanism.
	The Technology Strategy Board, which manages the SBRI programme, is engaging with Departments to identify and define further opportunities for the use of SBRI over the next three years. A 10 million competition with the Department for Communities and Local Government will be launched in March. The competition will encourage companies to demonstrate ways of improving the environmental sustainability of existing buildings. The Ministry of Defence, the Department of Health, and the Department for Transport also have advanced plans for SBRI competitions in 2009.

Science

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when he plans to publish his Department's strategy for science and society.

David Lammy: The UK's strategy for science and society is being developed in partnership with a range of stakeholders, following an extensive consultation process in 2008, and we plan to publish in late spring 2009.

Social Work: Higher Education

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills which universities providing social work degrees have stated their intention to cease providing them; and when they did so.

David Lammy: Reading university has recently announced that it plans to cease providing social work degrees in order to strengthen other areas, from September 2011. However, Reading is only one of about 100 institutions providing social work courses for about 60,000 students nationally. We will be working across Government and in partnership with all those institutions which provide such courses to help them produce a social care workforce which is well trained for the extremely demanding jobs undertaken by social workers.

Students: Loans

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will make it his policy to suspend student loan repayments for graduates earning less than 30,000 per annum.

David Lammy: There are no plans to suspend repayments for graduates earning less than 30,000. Repayment terms are already generous, and heavily subsidised by the taxpayer. Borrowers with income-contingent student loans repay at a rate of 9 per cent. of earnings above the repayment threshold of 15,000. This means that, for example, student loan borrower earning 18,000 a year would repay 5.19 per week.
	We are committed to maintaining the repayment threshold at 15,000 until 2010, when we will review it.

Whitehall Innovation Hub

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the cost of establishing the Whitehall Innovation Hub was; and what funding his Department plans to allocate to it in  (a) 2008-09 and  (b) subsequent years.

David Lammy: DIUS has provided 300,000 during 2008-09 for the Sunningdale Institute to establish the Whitehall Innovation Hub. This funding has included launching and setting up the Hub in 2008, running costs and activities in the financial year 2008-09.
	The Department is currently in discussions with the Hub over funding arrangements for the future.

Work Experience

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many places on the planned national internship programme are expected to be available annually.

David Lammy: In these challenging economic times, the Government are aiming to help new graduates in a number of ways. Amongst other measures, we are working with key stakeholders in the private, public and charitable sectors to increase provision of graduate internships for 2009. We expect these internships to offer graduates the opportunity to spend time with an employer, applying their learning in a working situation and building the work ready skills they will need for permanent employment. It is still early days, so we are not yet in a position to confirm the number of additional places involved.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Council Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the housing management and maintenance allocations were in  (a) real and  (b) cash terms for each English region in each year since 1997.

Iain Wright: I have placed tables in the Library of the House showing allocations for management and maintenance allowances shown in 2007-08 prices, and in cash terms, for each local authority in each English region in each year since 1997.
	In general local authorities' allowances increase year on year in line with inflation. Fluctuations in allowances between years reflect the response of the system to changes in underlying data arising, for example, from changes in stock numbers, crime data, and the index of deprivation.

Council Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the allocations for major repair allowance were in  (a) real and  (b) cash terms for each (i) English region and (ii) London local authority in each year since 1997.

Iain Wright: I have placed tables in the Library of the House showing allocations for major repairs allowances shown in 2007-08 prices, and in cash terms, for each local authority in each English region, and in each London local authority in each year since 1997.
	In general local authorities' allowances increase year on year in line with inflation. Fluctuations in allowances between years reflect the response of the system to changes in underlying data arising, for example, from changes in stock numbers, and building or other cost adjustments.

Council Housing: Waiting Lists

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people are on local authority housing waiting lists in  (a) St Albans and  (b) Hertfordshire; and what the equivalent figures were (i) five and (ii) 10 years ago.

Iain Wright: Information is available on numbers of households rather than people. The number of households registered on local authority housing waiting lists in each local authority, as at 1 April each year, is published on the Communities and Local Government website in Table 600. The latest available data are at April 2008. The link for this table is as follows:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/table600.xls
	Local authorities in England report the numbers of households on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns. The number of households on local authorities' waiting lists in St. Albans and Hertfordshire is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of households on the council house waiting list (excludes  households looking  for transfers) 
			   April 1998  April 2003  April 2008 
			 St. Albans 1,758 1,764 1,521 
			 Hertfordshire 18,601 19,677 26,891 
			  Source:  Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) 
		
	
	Further information on the number of households on the local authority housing waiting lists for England, can be found in the statistical release Local Authority Housing Statistics England: 2007-08: Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) and Business Plan Statistical Appendix (BPSA) This was published on 22 January 2009 on the Communities and Local Government website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/lahousing200708
	Copies of the statistical release and live table have been deposited in the Library.
	Not everyone on the local authority waiting list is necessarily in urgent housing need. The waiting list includes those who consider social housing as their preferred or one of a number of housing options, and those who decide to get onto the waiting list ladder before they need or want to move houseparticularly where the priority system is heavily based on waiting time. The size of the waiting list is not an indicator of absolute need, it is only useful as a broad indicator of housing demand in an area.

Housing: Low Incomes

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to increase the availability of affordable housing in  (a) Reading and  (b) the Thames Valley region.

Iain Wright: We are committed to a substantial increase in affordable housing. The long-term aspiration is to deliver 70,000 affordable homes a year in England by 2010-11. These affordable homes will be funded mainly by the Homes and Communities Agency established last year to improve the effectiveness of housing delivery.
	The growth programme funds infrastructure to support housing growth. Within the Thames Valley Reading, Milton Keynes, Aylesbury Vale and Didcot will receive a total of 21 million in 2009-10 from growth programmes. In addition in Reading the Homes and Communities Agency has committed to funding over 800 new affordable homes this year. Across the rest of the Thames Valley investment through the Homes and Communities Agency is due to deliver a further 1,200 affordable homes this year.

Local Government Finance: Greater London

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the management and maintenance allocations were to each London local authority in  (a) real and  (b) cash terms in each year since 1997.

Iain Wright: I have placed tables in the Library of the House showing allocations for Management and Maintenance allowances shown in 2007-08 prices, and in cash terms, for each local authority in London in each year since 1997.
	In general local authorities' allowances increase year on year in line with inflation. Fluctuations in allowances between years reflect the response of the system to changes in underlying data arising, for example, from changes in stock numbers, crime data, and the index of deprivation.

Members: Correspondence

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to reply to the letters of 3 December 2008 and 30 January 2009 from the hon. Member for Forest of Dean on the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, reference FD9865.

Sadiq Khan: I replied to the hon. Member's correspondence on 23 February 2009.

Neighbourhood Renewal Fund

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund monies  (a) allocated by her Department in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08 and  (b) carried forward to 2008-09 have been spent, broken down by district; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: The Neighbourhood Renewal Fund allocation was 525 million for 2006-07 and 525 million for 2007-08. I have placed in the Library of the House a table showing the amounts paid to each local authority for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08. Any money carried over from 2006-07 had to be used by the end of 2007-08.
	Neighbourhood Renewal Fund was provided on a non-ringfenced basis for 2007-08; local authorities could therefore make their own decisions on carrying forward a level of funding and Government did not compel local authorities to submit details on the amount carried forward between years.

Non-domestic Rates: Ports

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much each of the Humber ports paid in business rates in  (a) 2004,  (b) 2005,  (c) 2006,  (d) 2007 and  (e) 2008; and for how much each such port is liable in respect of each year since 2005 following the new assessments made in 2008.

John Healey: The Department does not hold this information. Local authorities are responsible for billing and collection of rates from individual businesses.

Non-domestic Rates: Ports

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has for the administration of the scheme to enable businesses to pay backdated rates bills over eight years in relation to  (a) port and  (b) other businesses; whether her Department has issued instructions to local authorities on the claiming of arrears; and what estimate she has made of the cost to the Exchequer of the payment scheme.

John Healey: The Department has issued a Business Rates Information Letter (BRIL 2/2009) on the policy for a schedule of payments, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. I have also written to the leaders of billing authorities confirming that the legislation has been put in place. The impact of the policy is set out in the impact assessment which was laid before this House on 10 February accompanying the Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local Lists) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2009 (SI 204).

Non-domestic Rates: Ports

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has refused to implement fast track arrangements for port businesses which are unable to provide the VOA with previous rating assessments in relation to the review of their new rating assessments; and if she will make it her policy to allow such businesses to gain access to fast track arrangements by submitting notional figures for previous assessments.

John Healey: The Valuation Office Agency has implemented the fast track arrangements for all ports businesses affected by a backdated liability for business rates as a result of the review of businesses within ports.
	Where ratepayers have failed to submit appeals (proposals) in accordance with the legislation, these have been treated as invalid. It is in the interests of fairness to all ratepayers that the regulations, which determine how appeals should be made, are applied consistently. However the Valuation Office Agency has continued to deal with and respond to these cases in accordance with the fast track arrangements despite the absence of a valid appeal.

Non-Domestic Rates: Small Businesses

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department allocated to small business rate relief in each year since 2005; and how much was claimed in such relief in each local authority area in each year.

John Healey: The Department does not allocate funding for small business rate relief as this is funded by businesses not eligible for the relief by a supplement on their rates bill.
	In regard to relief claimed in each local authority I refer to my answer given to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) on 22 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1660W.
	I have placed in the Library of the House a table showing  (a) the number of businesses that were in receipt of small business rate relief in each local authority in England as at 31 December 2006, the only year for which this information is currently available and  (b) the total relief granted in each local authority in England in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Ordnance Survey: VAT

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether Ordnance Survey has reduced its retail prices for items which attract value added tax since December 2008.

Iain Wright: The change in the standard rate of VAT effective from 1 December 2008 has been applied to business prices for all Ordnance Survey data products and services that are subject to VAT at the standard rate.
	Ordnance Survey paper maps are zero-rated for VAT and hence no price adjustments have been made for these products.

Rented Housing: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people there are on housing waiting lists in City of York constituency; and how many there were in each of the last 15 years.

Iain Wright: Information is available on numbers of households rather than people. The number of households registered on local authority housing waiting lists in each local authority, as at 1 April each year, is published on the Communities and Local Government website in table 600. The latest available data are at April 2008. The link for this table is given as follows:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/table600.xls
	Local authorities in England report the numbers of households on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual housing strategy statistical appendix returns. The City of York constituency is included in the unitary authority of York. The number of households on local authorities' waiting lists in the unitary authority of York is given in the following table. Data are not available prior to 1997.
	
		
			  Number of households on the waiting list (excludes households looking for transfers) 
			   York UA 
			 1997 4,515 
			 1998 4,139 
			 1999 4,624 
			 2000 4,496 
			 2001 4,425 
			 2002 3,459 
			 2003 3,625 
			 2004 1,888 
			 2005 2,122 
			 2006 1,600 
			 2007 1,927 
			 2008 2,289 
			  Source: Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) 
		
	
	Further information on the number of households on the local authority housing waiting lists for England, can be found in the statistical release Local Authority Housing Statistics England: 2007-08: Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) and Business Plan Statistical Appendix (BPSA). This was published on 22 January 2009 on the Communities and Local Government website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/lahousing200708
	Copies of the statistical release and live table have been deposited in the Library.
	Not everyone on the housing waiting list is necessarily in urgent housing need. The housing waiting list includes those who consider social housing as their preferred or one of a number of housing options, and those who decide to get onto the waiting list ladder before they need or want to move houseparticularly where the priority system is heavily based on waiting time. The size of the housing waiting list is not an indicator of absolute need, it is only useful as a broad indicator of housing demand in an area.

Roscommon Way Extension

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment has been made of the environmental impact of the Roscommon Way Extension, Canvey Island.

Margaret Beckett: As part of the community infrastructure business case requirements and owing to the value of the Roscommon Way Extension scheme (in excess of 10 million) the Departments for Transport and Communities and Local Government requested that Essex county council complete a full 'Major Schemes Business Case'. This was subsequently submitted in May 2008. It contained an initial environmental assessment which included noise, air quality, landscape, townscape, heritage, biodiversity and water environment analyses. Building on this assessment, the county council has submitted a planning application which includes a detailed environmental impact assessment, which proposes a raft of mitigation measures including invertebrate relocation, avoidance of water courses and careful landscaping to minimise the noise impact.

Sleeping Rough: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people she estimates were sleeping rough in York in  (a) winter and  (b) summer in each of the last 15 years.

Iain Wright: Annual rough sleeping figures for York have been collected since 1998. The figures are based on local authority street counts and estimates where a street count did not take place.
	
		
			  Number of rough sleepers in York 
			 1998 12 
			 1999 18 
			 2000 6 
			 2001  
			 2002 3 
			 2003 3 
			 2004 5 
			 2005 1 
			 2006 2 
			 2007 8 
			 2008 8

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Internet

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish a copy of his Department's website accessibility plan.

Jonathan R Shaw: We have developed a website accessibility statement for our departmental site, and it is available online at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/accessibility/
	Our accessibility policy for this website is available on request from this page, in line with Cabinet Office guidelines.
	More detailed plans for improving accessibility for parts of our websites are under development, with the aim of complying with Level Double-A of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by December 2009.

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department were on sick leave for  (a) over 30 days,  (b) over 50 days and  (c) over 100 days in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information is contained in the following table. The data reflect information currently held on the Department's personnel computer system.
	
		
			   Over 30 days  Over 50 days  Over 100 days 
			   Staff  Percentage of staff  Staff  Percentage of staff  Staff  Percentage of staff 
			 2008 3,300 2.55 3,762 2.91 3,732 2.89 
			 2007 3,815 2.84 4,570 3.41 4,754 3.54 
			 2006 3,966 2.75 4,812 3.34 4,993 3.46 
			 2005 4,080 2.68 5,145 3.38 5,545 3.64 
			 2004 5,390 3.32 6,216 3.83 6,445 3.97

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department were recorded as having been on sick leave for over 12 months on 31 December in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information is contained in the following table. The data reflect information currently held on the Department's personnel computer system.
	
		
			  Number of employees absent for more than 12 months on 31 December 
			   Staff  Percentage of all staff employed 
			 2008 85 0.07 
			 2007 209 0.16 
			 2006 139 0.10 
			 2005 142 0.09 
			 2004 284 0.17

Disadvantaged: Finance

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding was allocated by his Department under the deprived areas fund to each local authority in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 5 February 2009
	No funding was allocated by DWP to local authorities in 2006-07 or 2007-08 under the deprived areas fund.
	In 2006-07 the deprived areas fund was allocated direct to district managers in Jobcentre Plus.
	In 2007-08 the deprived areas fund was allocated directly to district managers in Jobcentre Plus and to 15 city strategy pathfinders. However, some pathfinders elected to receive their deprived areas fund via a nominated local authority acting as their lead accountable body. Allocations are shown in the tables.
	
		
			  Jobcentre Plus district  2006-07 Jobcentre Plus districts  2007-08, Jobcentre Plus districts (non-cities)  2007-08 City strategy areas by district 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 98,877 313,000 0 
			 Essex 71,305 226,000 0 
			 Norfolk 69,404 222,000 0 
			 Cambridgeshire and Suffolk 58,946 189,000 0 
			 Derbyshire 173,034 537,000 0 
			 Leicestershire and Northamptonshire 292,828 79,576 816,424 
			 Lincolnshire and Rutland 91,271 287,000 0 
			 Nottinghamshire 402,163 186,998 1,046,002 
			 West London 373,640 0 1,143,000 
			 Central London 438,291 1,349,000 0 
			 City and East London 1,463,187 21,218 4,461,782 
			 Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth 905,103 2,780,000 0 
			 North and North East London 934,576 2,034,549 828,451 
			 South London 598,965 1,405,983 428,017 
			 Northumbria 533,365 0 1,633,000 
			 South Tyne and Wear Valley 810,030 527,309 1,953,691 
			 Tees Valley 518,153 1,596,000 0 
			 Cheshire and Warrington 59,897 193,000 0 
			 Cumbria 134,054 418,000 0 
			 Greater Mersey 574,246 0 1,759,000 
			 Liverpool and Wirral 791,966 0 2,427,000 
			 Lancashire 509,596 1,167,223 392,777 
			 Greater Manchester Central 803,374 0 2,459,000 
			 Greater Manchester East and West 422,128 0 1,293,000 
			 Ayrshire, Dumfries, Galloway and Inverclyde 436,389 1,344,000 0 
			 Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders 160,675 97,897 394,103 
			 Forth Valley, Fife and Tayside 405,966 793,303 448,697 
			 Glasgow 946,936 0 2,898,000 
			 Highlands, Islands and Clyde Coast and Grampian 365,084 1,125,000 0 
			 Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire 442,094 1,361,000 0 
			 Berks, Bucks and Oxfordshire 47,537 26,000 0 
			 Hampshire 47,537 110,000 0 
			 Kent 89,369 280,000 0 
			 Surrey and Sussex 86,517 274,000 0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 83,665 265,000 0 
			 Dorset and Somerset 47,537 89,000 0 
			 Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Swindon 47,537 128,000 0 
			 West of England 96,025 301,000 0 
			 South Wales Valleys 922,217 1,233,587 1,588,413 
			 North and Mid Wales 186,345 492,035 79,965 
			 South East Wales 290,926 789,746 101,254 
			 South West Wales 486,778 1,491,000 0 
			 Birmingham and Solihull 821,438 0 2,515,00C 
			 Coventry and Warwickshire 90,320 0 277,00C 
			 Staffordshire 81,764 257,000 C 
			 The Black Country 463,961 0 1,419.00C 
			 The Marches 0 0 63,00C 
			 North East Yorkshire and The Humber 301,384 932,000 0 
			 South Yorkshire 538,118 0 1,647,000 
			 West Yorkshire 685,483 2,105,000 0 
			 Totals 19,300,000 27,027,424 32,072,576 
			  Source:  DWP Areas Initiatives and Communities Division 
		
	
	
		
			  2007-08 City strategy pathfinder allocations 
			 Blackburn with Darwin(1) 392,777 
			 Leicester(1) 816,424 
			 Liverpool(1) 4,186,000 
			 Greater Manchester(1) 3,752,000 
			 South Yorkshire(1) 1,647,000 
			 Nottingham(1) 1,046,002 
			 Tyne and Wear(1) 3,586,691 
			 Dundee 448,697 
			 Glasgow 2,898,000 
			 Edinburgh 394,103 
			 Heads of the Valleys 1,689,667 
			 Rhyl 79,965 
			 Birmingham Black Country and Coventry 4,274,000 
			 East London 5,718,250 
			 West London 1,143,000 
			 Total 32,072,576 
			 (1) These pathfinders each elected to receive their DAF via a nominated local authority acting as their lead accountable body  Source:  DWP Areas Initiatives and Communities Division

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what sanctions would apply if an individual refused to participate in  (a) a substance-related assessment,  (b) an interview,  (c) other relevant tests and  (d) rehabilitation plans under provisions contained in Schedule 1 of the Welfare Reform Bill.

Tony McNulty: Under current plans the sanctions that will apply will be similar to those in place for refusing to take the steps necessary to tackle other barriers to work. Currently, for failing to comply with a Jobseeker Direction, the claimant will incur two weeks' benefit loss in the first instance, followed by four and 26 weeks' loss for repeated failure to comply. Those on employment and support allowance can lose up to half of the work related activity component of their benefit for four weeks if they fail to meet with conditionality requirements. If they still fail to cooperate they can lose their work related activity component in full.

Industrial Accidents: Construction

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many prosecutions have been brought under health and safety legislation in respect of fatal accidents in the construction industry in each year since 1997; and how many of them resulted in convictions.

Jonathan R Shaw: The number of prosecutions brought under health and safety legislation in respect of fatal injuries in the construction industry, and resulting convictions, is as shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Prosecutions  Convictions 
			 1999-2000 39 37 
			 2000-01 45 39 
			 2001-02 46 43 
			 2002-03 59 50 
			 2003-04 48 39 
			 2004-05 54 46 
			 2005-06 36 27 
			 2006-07 44 38 
			 2007-08 51 44 
		
	
	Detailed information is only available in the form requested from 1999-2000 onwards. Data is not yet available for 2008-09.
	These figures show, for each year, the number of prosecution cases resulting from fatal injuries in the construction industry, for which the last hearing date fell within the relevant year, and the number of those which have as yet resulted in at least one successful conviction.
	The numbers of prosecutions include 14 cases where the prosecution has been commenced but is not yet complete.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who have been in receipt of jobseeker's allowance but no longer qualify for it  (a) have found employment,  (b) are still unemployed and  (c) are registered as unemployed; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The total number of people leaving jobseeker's allowance is decreasing in line with the numbers claiming jobseeker's allowance. The number of people leaving with an unknown destination recorded has increased over the last ten years. This is because the completion levels of the JSA40 (forms filled in by people leaving jobseeker's allowance) have decreased over this period. This should be taken into account when interpreting these statistics, as many of these 'unknown' leavers will have moved into employment or other benefits.
	The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Destination of claimants leaving jobseekers allowance2008 
			  Destination  Claimants 
			 Employment 914,690 
			 Other benefit (excludes those reaching retirement age) 170,185 
			 Education/training 228,530 
			 Other known destinations 155,715 
			 Not known 1,083,635 
			 Total 2,552,735 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 2. The question does not specify any time period; total claimants leaving jobseeker's allowance during 2008 have been supplied. 3. Number of leavers moving into employment includes claimants who increased their employment hours beyond 16 per week. 4. Most of those moving onto other benefits will still be out of work. 5. Other known destinations include gone abroad, reached retirement age, gone to prison, deceased, new claim review or defective claim.  Source: 100 per cent. count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus Computer Systems

Mass Media

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost of his Department's contracts with press monitoring services was in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: Press monitoring services for DWP include contracts with the Central Office of Information's Media Monitoring Unit, a press cuttings agency, two media monitoring services and the Press Association. Separate services were provided at times for Jobcentre Plus, the Office for Disability Issues and the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission (CMEC). The costs were as follows:
	
		
			
			 2004-05 49,000 
			 2005-06 172,599.97 
			 2006-07 211,505.95 
			 2007-08 224,377.55 
			 2008-09 (1)138,543.28 
			 (1) Up to December 2008 
		
	
	Some costs are incomplete and unavailable. For instance, the costs in 2004-05 only relate to the Central Office of Information's Media Monitoring Unit.

Members: Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire to the Prime Minister of 18 December 2008, transferred to him for reply, on the winter fuel allowance.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 19 February 2009.

Members: Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to answer the letters from the hon. Member for Edinburgh West of 22 September 2008 and 17 November 2008 on the case of the hon. Member's constituent, Joe Shepherd.

Jonathan R Shaw: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 19 October 2008 in reply to his letter of 22 September 2008, and 18 December 2008 in reply to his letter of17 November 2008.

New Deal Schemes

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  when  (a) he,  (b) his Ministers and  (c) officials from his Department next plan to meet bidders for Flexible New Deal contracts to discuss the tendering process;
	(2)  what changes have been made to the timetable for the tendering process for providers bidding for Flexible New Deal contracts; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  when he plans to publish the list of the preferred bidders for the Flexible New Deal contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 There are no current plans to meet with bidders for flexible new deal contracts.
	We wrote to bidders for flexible new deal contracts on 11 February, to provide them with the information we had planned to give them at a meeting on 6 February, which did not take place due to adverse weather conditions.
	We have notified providers that, by the time phase 1 contracts start in October 2009, we now believe customer volumes will be higher than those published in the invitation to tender (ItT). To enable us to jointly consider the impact and options to address the financial challenges in the initial phase of the contract, there will be a short pause in the competition. We remain committed to beginning delivery of flexible new deal from October and will inform bidders who have been shortlisted in April, with contracts being awarded by the end of May 2009.

New Deal Schemes

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will increase the up-front service fee payable to successful bidders for Flexible New Deal contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	DWP will retain a performance and payment regime based largely on outcomes, providing shortlisted bidders with the opportunity to develop innovative, individually tailored solutions. Our expectation is to have a funding model based on 80 per cent. (outcome) and 20 per cent. (fee based) as originally announced. However, in the initial phase of the contract (first 18 months), we will consider alternative models based on a higher service fee element.

New Deal Schemes

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what his most recent estimate is of the number of people who will be referred to providers of the Flexible New Deal in each of the next two years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made for the purposes of the Flexible New Deal contract of the number of people who will have been out of work for more than 12 months by October 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 The Department does not forecast future long-term unemployment or the future number of claimants of jobseeker's allowance.
	The Government remain committed to bringing forward the flexible new deal and on 30 January 2009 a letter was issued to shortlisted bidders in the flexible new deal competition to help them draw up plans that are capable of withstanding a wide range of possible developments in the labour market over the next three to five years. This includes the possibility that customer volumes by the time phase 1 contracts go live in October 2009 could be up to 300 per cent. higher than those published in the original invitation to tender. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library.

New Deal Schemes

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the flexible new deal contracts go-live dates will be delayed as a result of the suspension of the tendering process.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The Government remains committed to bringing in phase 1 of the flexible new deal from October 2009.

New Deal Schemes

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department expects to commence the Flexible New Deal in October 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 The Government remain committed to bringing in the flexible new deal, in phase 1 areas, from October 2009.

New Deal Schemes

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with organisations providing specialist employment services who did not submit bids for contracts under the Flexible New Deal; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	We have written to suppliers that had been shortlisted and had subsequently withdrawn from the Flexible New Deal competition, advising them that by the time Phase 1 contracts start in October 2009 we now believe customer volumes will be higher than those published in the Invitation to Tender (ItT). We have invited them to reconsider their decision to withdraw from the competition and submit a full tender should they now wish to bid.

Pension Credit

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many applications for pension credit were made to the Pensions Service in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09 to date.

Rosie Winterton: The information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Pension credit applications 
			   Number 
			 2007-08 285,436 
			 2008-09 January YTD(1) 249,895 
			 (1) YTDyear to date.  Source: Pension Service Legacy System

Pensioners: Winter Fuel Payments

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners who reached the age of 80 in 2008 have not qualified for winter fuel payments because their birthday was later than 15 September 2008.

Rosie Winterton: Winter fuel payments of 200 (250 for 2008-09) are available to eligible people who are aged 60 or over by the qualifying week (15-21 September for winter 2008-09). Where an eligible person is aged 80 or over in this qualifying week, they will receive an amount of 300 (400 for 2008-09).
	The estimated number of pensioners in Great Britain who reached the age of 80 in 2008, and would not have qualified for the increase in winter fuel payments because their birthday was later than the qualifying week, is around 87,000. The September qualifying week is used to ensure that payments can be made before Christmas. If the qualifying period were to be extended or a later week used, the payment exercise could not be completed in time for the payments to be available when they are most needed. Whichever qualifying week is used, there will always be people who just miss out.
	 Notes
	1. An estimate of the number of people turning 80 in the calendar year 2008 has been derived from the 2006-based national population projections for Great Britain from the Office for National Statistics.
	2. The estimated number of pensioners in Great Britain who reached the age of 80 in 2008, and would not have qualified for the increase in winter fuel payments, are those who turned 80 between 22 September and 31 December 2008.
	3. This estimate was rounded to the nearest 1,000 individuals.
	4. The estimate does not include those people living in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.
	5. The winter fuel payments rates quoted in the answer are for full rate payments. Where there is more than one eligible person in a household people may receive a shared payment.
	 Source
	DWP and The Office for National Statistics

Pensions

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of pension funds which invest in mortgage-backed securities; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.
	The Purple Book 2008 produced by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and the Pensions Regulator covers most PPF-eligible defined benefit pension schemes.
	Mortgage backed securities are not recorded as a separate item within the Purple Book data and are grouped under the category 'Other'. This category includes several separate asset classes.
	The category 'Other' constitutes 3.7 per cent. of total scheme assets, and 17 per cent. of schemes hold assets from this category.
	As mortgage backed securities are grouped together with other classes of asset they will only be a very small fraction of the 3.7 per cent. of total assets within the category.

Post Office Card Account

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff of his Department were working on the Post Office card account successor contract prior to its cancellation.

Rosie Winterton: It is not possible to give the precise number of staff who were working on the Post Office card account successor contract prior to cancellation. A small core team of DWP and Northern Ireland Social Security Agency staff worked full-time on the exercise, with a number of other staff contributing to the procurement process alongside their other duties.

Social Security Benefits

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many apparent benefit claimants also appear on the mortality and bereavement register; and how much has been paid in benefits to such claimants in each of the last four years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 The Department for Work and Pensions has arrangements in place to receive daily notification of death registration data from the Office for National Statistics. Such data are then matched against benefit and pension records to identify deaths which have not otherwise been reported direct to the Department for Work and Pensions. The Department for Work and Pensions does not collect information about the number or amount of overpayments identified from this specific source of data matching.

Social Security Benefits

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people referred to welfare to work providers have subsequently been found to appear on the mortality and bereavement register in each of the last four years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 The Department for Work and Pensions has arrangements in place to receive daily notification of death registration data from the Office for National Statistics. Such data are then matched against benefit and pension records to identify deaths which have not otherwise been reported direct to the Department for Work and Pensions.
	We do not cross reference our information with the mortality and bereavement register.

Social Security Benefits: Deductions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many times deductions have been made from benefits for non-payment of council tax in each local authority area since August 2007; how many claimants have had deductions made from their  (a) pension credit,  (b) jobseeker's allowance and  (c) income support for not paying council tax in each local authority area since August 2007; how many claimants have had deductions made to benefits for non-payment of council tax (i) once, (ii) twice, (iii) three times, (iv) four times and (v) five times or more in each local authority area in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: The information is not available in the format requested.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff were employed in tackling benefit fraud in each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: The Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) was launched in April 2006 to address cases likely to result in a criminal sanction. Prior to that date, fraud was managed by regional directors as part of the overall business in Jobcentre Plus and directly comparable figures are not available. Additionally in April 2006, customer compliance teams were set up within each customer service region to look at those cases where there is an apparent irregularity that does not warrant a criminal investigation. At the time FIS was launched it is estimated 810 staff nationally were invested in the customer compliance process.
	Staffing figures for FIS since 2006 are given in the following table:
	
		
			  As at April each year  Number 
			 2006 3,210 
			 2007 2,973.7 
			 2008 2,840.1 
			 2009 (Allocation) 2,815 
		
	
	These figures are full time equivalent numbers to account for part-time staff which is why they are not whole numbers.
	The figures include staff working in area fraud, criminal intelligence, organised fraud and technical and support roles all of whom provide an essential and integral contribution to the investigation process.
	Prior to the launch of the FIS figures for fraud investigators are given in the following table:
	
		
			  DWP fraud investigators 
			  April to March  Full time e quivalent 
			 2004-05 1,843.5 
			 2005-06 1,744.1 
			 1. Information is not available in the aforementioned format prior to 2004.  Source:  Fraud Business Report.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of benefit fraud in 2007-08.

Tony McNulty: Estimates of amount of benefit overpaid due to fraud are available in the DWP National Statistics publication Fraud and Error in the Benefit System: April 2007 to March 2008 (ISBN: 978-1-84763-691-1), a copy of which is in Library.

Social Security Benefits: Hertfordshire

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of families in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire who have received benefits as a result of the Government's policy on welfare reform.

Tony McNulty: Information is not available on the number of families in receipt of benefits.
	Active intervention is key and at no time is this more important than in economic slowdowns. If it is becoming harder to find work, it is right that we do more to help, not less. This is why we are moving people from inactive benefits to the active regime of jobseeker's allowance if this will help them, even if this means an increase in the jobseeker's allowance count in the short term.
	We strongly believe that the welfare state should combine rights with responsibilities. Our welfare reforms have been built on this foundation, that in order to receive support during periods of unemployment people should be actively seeking work or making efforts to move closer to work.
	Our reforms have resulted in high numbers of people in work throughout the country, and have put an end to the rise in the number of people claiming incapacity benefits. We remain committed to further reform to reduce welfare dependency and support more people into work, provide greater support and control for disabled people and strengthen parental responsibility.
	Previous experience has taught us that the worst thing we can do in a downturn is to write people off, consigning them to a lifetime on benefits. We are investing an additional 1.3 billion over the next two years to support Jobcentre Plus and our employment programmes; and a further 0.5 billion to guarantee more support to people unemployed for six months or more by providing incentives for firms to hire, access to help in setting up a business, extra funding for training and opportunities for work-focused volunteering.
	Our welfare reform programme will allow us to bring about the most radical reform of the welfare state for generations. Our reforms promise greater support for people on benefits and a more flexible, personalised system to help them find sustainable employment. In return we expect people to take up this help, and work with us to help themselves. The Welfare Reform Bill will take the primary powers needed to complete the transformation of the welfare state, turning it from being essentially passive to profoundly active.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefits applicants resident in  (a) Aylesbury and  (b) Milton Keynes were required to take a medical examination in each year since 2000; and how many of those examinations were undertaken in (i) Luton, (ii) Aylesbury and (iii) Euston.

Tony McNulty: The available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of benefit customers resident in Aylesbury and Milton Keynes who have been required to take a medical examination in each year since 2000 
			   Aylesbury postcodes  Milton Keynes postcodes 
			 2000 1,830 2,914 
			 2001 2,118 2,678 
			 2002 1,925 3,071 
			 2003 1,818 2,515 
			 2004 1,982 2,838 
			 2005 2,422 3,545 
			 2006 2,033 2,816 
			 2007 2,992 3,662 
			 2008 2,430 3,302 
			 2009 305 355 
			  Source: Medical Services 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of customers with Aylesbury postcodes (HP1-24 and HP27) and the examination centres where their examination took place 
			   Aylesbury MEC  Luton MEC  Euston MEC  Marylebone MEC 
			 2000 1,494 14 322  
			 2001 1,797 83 238  
			 2002 1,796 79 50  
			 2003 1,762 24 32  
			 2004 1,929 11 42  
			 2005 2,212 152 58  
			 2006 1,804 202  27 
			 2007 2,255 725  12 
			 2008 1,788 637  5 
			 2009 222 83   
			  Note: Euston Medical Examination Centre closed in 2005. All customers previously referred to Euston were transferred to Marylebone Medical Examination Centre in 2006.  Source: Medical Services 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of customers with Milton Keynes postcodes (MK1-19, MK 21, MK23, MK40-46) and the examination centres where their examination took place 
			   Aylesbury MEC  Luton MEC  Euston MEC  Marylebone MEC 
			 2000 1,485 1,391 38  
			 2001 602 2,008 68  
			 2002 1,082 1,964 25  
			 2003 1,153 1,339 23  
			 2004 1,311 1,484 43  
			 2005 1,806 1,696 43  
			 2006 1,496 1,309  11 
			 2007 2,303 1,353  6 
			 2008 1,685 1,615  2 
			 2009 183 172   
			  Source: Medical Services

Vacancies: Lincolnshire

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job vacancies in  (a) North East Lincolnshire and  (b) North Lincolnshire have been notified to Jobcentre Plus offices in each of the last 12 months.

Tony McNulty: The information is in the table.
	
		
			  Job vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus in the last 12 months 
			  Date  North East Lincolnshire  North Lincolnshire 
			 February 2008 1,325 1,602 
			 March 2008 981 1,180 
			 April 2008 847 1,013 
			 May 2008 887 1,016 
			 June 2008 1,083 1,280 
			 July 2008 757 858 
			 August 2008 1,056 1,183 
			 September 2008 828 1,021 
			 October 2008 919 913 
			 November 2008 861 1,138 
			 December 2008 739 506 
			 January 2009 231 383 
			  Notes: 1. Data are unrounded. 2. These figures are not fully comparable over time and may not indicate developments in the labour market. Changes to Jobcentre Plus vacancy handling procedures have led to a major discontinuity in the vacancy statistic pre and post May 2006. See http://www.nomisweb.co.Uk/articles/177.aspx#may06 before comparing data over this period. Interpretation of these data need to take account of changes in recent years to Jobcentre Plus procedures for taking and handling vacancies. 3. Comprehensive estimates of all job vacancies (not just those notified to Jobcentre Plus) are available from the monthly ONS Vacancy Survey since April 2001, based on a sample of some 6,000 enterprises. However, the ONS survey is currently designed to provide national estimates only.  Source: Jobcentre Plus Labour Market System.

Vocational Training

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps the Government have taken to assist those returning to work from long periods of unemployment.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The Government are doing everything that they can to help those who become unemployed back into work as quickly as possible. We recognise that extra support is needed during the downturn, and a range of new help is being made available to jobseekers.
	We are investing an extra 1.3 billion to ensure that through Jobcentre Plus we can continue to provide personal help and advice to everyone who needs ithelp in finding a job, filling in job applications and writing a CV plus advice on re-training and acquiring new skills.
	We also know the scarring effects of long-term unemployment both on individuals and on communities. It is important that the Government learn from the mistakes of previous recessions by doing everything we can to prevent people who lose their jobs slipping inevitably into long-term unemployment. To address this we are investing a further 0.5 billion to ensure the support available to people who lose their jobs increases the longer a person is unemployed. The package of support for people who are still unemployed after six months includes: employer Golden Hellos of up to 2,500 to recruit and train people; support to set up a new business along with funding for the first months of trading; additional training places to help people develop work-related skills; and more opportunities to volunteer where this will help a person move towards work.
	And we are pressing ahead with our welfare reforms from this year that will increase support for unemployed people as their claim to benefit continues. We are creating a new contract for jobseekers, promising help with skills and with employability.

Vocational Training

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps the Government have taken to help those aged over 50 years to re-enter the labour market.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The Government already provide back-to-work support for those wishing to re-enter the labour market, including those aged 50 and over, through Jobcentre Plus, Local Employer Partnerships, the New Deal and Pathways to Work. We intend to extend this as detailed in the Welfare Reform Bill.
	However, in response to the current economic downturn the Government have already committed 0.5 billion additional support to help prevent people out of work from becoming long-term unemployed.
	We have doubled the resources available to the Rapid Response Service. The service offers support across the country for those people facing redundancy with immediate help and advice, including skills assessments and retraining, to ensure that people get back to work as soon as possible.
	From April, financial incentives of up to 2,500 will be available to employers that recruit and train people who have been unemployed for six months or longer.
	In addition we have introduced extra funding for training places to help unemployed people get new skills to maximise their chances of getting jobs from the 500,000 vacancies in the economy, opportunities to volunteer to help people back into work habits and help to start a business with advice on creating a business plan, plus funding for the first months of trading.
	A major factor in the employment of older people is employer behaviour. In addition to providing generic good practice guidance to employers, the UK's Age Positive initiative is working in partnership with business leaders to develop sector-based models of flexible retirement to support the increased employment and retention of older workers and the removal of fixed retirement ages.

Vocational Training: Standards

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish performance data for  (a) private sector providers and  (b) in-house teams providing pathways to work schemes.

Tony McNulty: The Department publishes regular quarterly statistics relating to Jobcentre Plus Pathways to Work Performance. The latest report shows that by September 2008 there had been nearly 1.04 million starts to the programme.
	The total number of recorded job entries is 143,650. Job entry information is only available up to March 2008.
	The Department plans to publish equivalent information for Provider-Led Pathways districts in summer 2009.

Vocational Training: Standards

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information his Department holds on the comparative performance of  (a) the private sector Pathways to Work providers and  (b) the in-house provider teams.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The Department publishes regular quarterly statistics relating to Jobcentre Plus Pathways to Work Performance. The latest report shows that by September 2008 there had been nearly 1.04 million starts to the programme.
	The total number of recorded job entries is 143,650. Job entry information is only available up to March 2008.
	The Department plans to publish equivalent information for Provider-Led Pathways districts in summer 2009.

Welfare Reform Bill

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what resources will be made available during the first full year of the implementation of the provisions of the Welfare Reform Bill for the requirement of drug users to  (a) attend interview to answer questions,  (b) undertake substance-related assessment,  (c) undertake relevant tests and  (d) undertake rehabilitation plans, as set out in schedule 1 to the Bill.

Tony McNulty: We aim to pilot and evaluate the new approach to employment support for problem drug users set out in the Welfare Reform Bill in a small number of Jobcentre Plus districts. The detail of those pilots, including any additional resources that will be made available, is still in development at this early stage.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Advanced Extension Award

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils were entered for sixth term extension paper examinations in  (a) mathematics and  (b) any subject in (i) maintained schools and (ii) independent schools in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The information requested is not held by the Department.

Care Proceedings

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many applications for care proceedings there have been since 1 November 2008; and what effect this has had on the appointment of guardians.

Beverley Hughes: The Children and Family Court Advisory Service received 590 care applications (Section 31) in November 2008 and 714 in December 2008.
	This increase in demand has had an effect on the allocation of guardians. In November 2008, 73 per cent. of Section 31 applications were allocated to guardians within two days and in December 2008, this figure was 66.9 per cent. Both of these figures met the current target which is that 65 per cent. of cases should be allocated within two days.
	To respond to demand CAFCASS has put a duty guardian scheme in place so that urgent work is covered, and a solicitor for the child is always appointed in each case to look after a child's interests.

Children: Care Homes

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of children's homes were assessed as inadequate by Ofsted in each of the last 10 years.

Beverley Hughes: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the Library.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 20 February 2009:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	Ofsted assumed responsibility for the regulation and inspection of children's homes on 1 April 2007. This had previously been the responsibility of the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and data up to April 2007 are available from CSCI Annual Reports, accessible from their website http://www.csci.org.uk/. Please note that from April 2004 until April 2006, CSCI inspection reports of children's homes commented on the extent to which they met the National Minimum Standards and did not judge provision as 'inadequate'. In April 2006, CSCI introduced outcome judgements into its inspection reports, and used a four point grading scale of 'excellent', 'good', 'adequate' or 'poor'.
	For the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008, Ofsted inspected 1,801 children's homes, of which 139 (8%) were judged inadequate overall. For the period 1 April 2008 to 31 December 2008, Ofsted inspected 1,682 children's homes, of which 135 (8%) were judged inadequate overall. These figures were taken from data available at 31 March 2008 and 31 December 2008. They only include children's homes which were active at those points and are based on the overall outcome from their most recently completed Ofsted inspection.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Children: Databases

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  whether education professionals will be able to access ContactPoint via wireless handheld devices;
	(2)  what contingency plans are in place in the event of a breach of security in ContactPoint.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 23 February 2009
	ContactPoint is designed, built, operated and managed to HM Government standards for security and complies with the strict controls imposed by HM Government security policy. Data contained within the system are made available only to those authorised users and administrators who have been subject to vetting and have completed mandatory training. Organisations that require access to ContactPoint must meet strict system accreditation requirements. These requirements do not allow access to ContactPoint via wireless handheld devices.
	In the event of a breach of security in ContactPoint, we will follow HM Government security policy for incident response and reporting. Our response will be proportional to the severity of the incident and could include:
	Immediately shutting down the system and denying access to all users;
	Reporting the breach to stakeholders, up to and including the Information Commissioner and Ministers;
	Reporting the breach to the Communications and Cryptographic Incident Notification, Reporting and Alerting Scheme (CINRAS); and
	Reporting the breach to the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance's Computer Emergency Response Team (GovCertUK).
	Following any security breach, a full review would take place and prosecutions would be instigated where appropriate.

Children: Obesity

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what initiatives the Government has introduced for children of pre-school age to reduce levels of childhood obesity in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives strategy, published in January 2008, set out the Government's plan to reduce obesity, initially focusing on children. Every child should grow up eating well and enjoying being active and we want parents to have the knowledge and confidence to make this happen. There is no single, simple solution to reducing rates of overweight and obesity and therefore Government are taking action on a number of fronts.
	At a national level, the Government are promoting healthy eating and physical activity. The updated Child Health Promotion Programme was published in March 2008. It prioritises obesity prevention and physical activity by promoting positive parenting during pregnancy and the early years of children's lives. We are working to support as many mothers as possible to breastfeed and to continue to breastfeed for longerhelped by children's centres, health and other services, all promoting healthy weight. The Healthy Start initiative provides free vitamin supplements and vouchers for milk, fruit and vegetables for low-income pregnant women and children up to age four.
	The introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage for 0 to five-year-olds means that all early years education providers must promote the good health of children, by providing healthy, nutritious food and active play. The Play Strategy, launched in December 2008, sets out how Government will invest 235 million over 2008-09 to 2010-11 to develop play facilities for children of all ages. Ofcom have introduced restrictions on advertising foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) to children.
	At a local level, primary care trusts, working with local authorities, are responsible for co-ordinating work to tackle childhood obesity. PCT plans, developed alongside local authority children and young people's plans, will feed into local area agreements agreed with the Government offices. Local areas will develop and implement their own initiatives based on local needs and circumstances. 130 LAs have chosen to include in their local area agreement at least one child obesity indicator from the National Indicator Set.
	All this is supported by the Change4Life movement at a national and local level which aims to help families eat well, move more and live longer and which is initially focused on families with young children. Change4Life is working with a range of commercial and voluntary sector partners, signing up to play their part and deliver concrete commitments to change both nationally and locally.

Children: Obesity

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what initiatives his Department has introduced to reduce childhood obesity among children of pre-school age in the London Borough of Bexley.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives strategy, published in January 2008, set out the Government's plans to reduce obesity, initially focusing on children. Every child should grow up eating well and enjoying being active and we want parents to have the knowledge and confidence to make this happen. There is no single, simple solution to reducing rates of overweight and obesity and therefore Government are taking action on a number of fronts.
	At a national level, the Government are promoting healthy eating and physical activity. The updated child health promotion programme was published in March 2008. It prioritises obesity prevention and physical activity by promoting positive parenting during pregnancy and the early years of children's lives. We are working to support as many mothers as possible to breastfeed and to continue to breastfeed for longerhelped by children's centres, health and other services, all promoting healthy weight. The healthy start initiative provides free vitamin supplements and vouchers for milk, fruit and vegetables for low-income pregnant women and children up to age four.
	The introduction of the early years foundation stage for 0-5 year olds means that all early years education providers must promote the good health of children, by providing healthy, nutritious food and active play. The play strategy, launched in December 2008, sets out how Government will invest 235 million over 2008-09 to 2010-11 to develop play facilities for children of all ages. Ofcom have introduced restrictions on advertising foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) to children.
	At a local level, primary care trusts, working with local authorities, are responsible for co-ordinating work to tackle childhood obesity. PCT plans, developed alongside local authority children and young people's plans, will feed into local area agreements agreed with the Government offices. Local areas will develop and implement their own initiatives based on local needs and circumstances. 130 LAs have chosen to include in their local area agreement at least one child obesity indicator from the National Indicator Set.
	All this is supported by the Change4Life movement at a national and local level which aims to help families eat well, move more and live longer and which is initially focussed on families with young children. Change4Life is working with a range of commercial and voluntary sector partners, signing up to play their part and deliver concrete commitments to change both nationally and locally.

Children: Protection

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each region were not allocated a social worker in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each region have not been allocated a social worker since 9 September 2008; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each London borough were not allocated a social worker in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  how many children on the Child Protection Register in each London borough have not been allocated a social worker since 9 September 2008; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what the average number of cases allocated to each child protection social worker in each region was in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  what the average number of cases allocated to each child protection social worker in each London borough was in each year between 1997 and 3 August 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  what the average number of cases allocated to each child protection social worker in each region has been since 9 September 2008; and if he will make a statement;
	(8)  what the average number of cases allocated to each child protection social worker in each London borough has been since 9 September 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The Department does not collect this information. We recognise, however, the critical importance of effective frontline social work to outcomes for children. That is why the Government are investing nearly 73 million over the next three years in a package of proposals to improve social workers' capacity and skills. As part of this package, we have just announced plans to establish a social work taskforce to lead a nuts and bolts review of frontline social work practice that will inform further improvements in social worker training, recruitment and leadership.

Children: Protection

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to his statement of 11 December 2008,  Official Report, column 777, on serious case review numbers, when he expects to provide the information referred to.

Beverley Hughes: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families provided the information requested in a letter to the hon. Member on 3 February.

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many Part 8 reviews there have been into children's deaths in Doncaster in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many serious case reviews there have been of children's deaths in Doncaster in each of the last 10 years.

Beverley Hughes: Data currently held by the Department for Children, Schools and Families indicate that, of all notifications received between 1 April 2007 and 31 March 2008 of serious child care incidents, three serious case reviews had been initiated in Doncaster where a child died and abuse or neglect was known or suspected to be a factor. Data prior to 1 April 2007 are not available in this form.
	Information on the numbers of serious case reviews following the death of a child in each local authority area between 2000 and 2005 has been given in a previous parliamentary answer on 24 July 2006,  Official Report, column 839W. This explains that the number of confirmed serious case reviews (SCRs) following the death of a child in Doncaster between 2000 and 2005 was six.

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of initial assessments for children who may be at risk were carried out by care services within seven working days in the most recent year for which data is available.

Beverley Hughes: The percentage of initial assessments completed within seven working days of referral can be found in table 1A of the Statistical First Release 'Referrals, Assessments and Children and Young People who are the subject of a Child Protection Plan, Englandyear ending 31 March 2008' available at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000811/index.shtml

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent on salaries for frontline children's social workers by each local authority in each year since 1997.

Beverley Hughes: Social workers are directly recruited by their employers. The Department for Children, Schools and Families does not collect information on how much employers spend on salaries for frontline children's social workers. In their Children's, Young People's and Families' Social Care Pay and Workforce Survey 2007, the local government analysis and research group estimated that the basic salary for social workers in England and Wales (mean) was 28,389.

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the expenditure on the integrated children's system was in each local authority area in each year since its implementation.

Beverley Hughes: Information on local authorities' annual capital and revenue expenditure on the Integrated Children's System is not collected centrally.
	The Department has made 60 million in capital grant available to local authorities to support local capital expenditure on the development and implementation of the Integrated Children's System between 1 April 2004 and 30 September 2008.
	I have placed in the Library a table that shows local authorities' allocations from this grant over that period.

Children's Services: Standards

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in relation to which local authorities his Department has expressed concern about the performance of the children's services department; what the areas of concern were in each case; and if he will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: The local authorities that are of most concern to the Department are those whose children's services (or aspect(s) of) have been judged inadequate by Ofsted. These judgments can be found at:
	http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxcare_providers/list_by_la

Critical Thinking: Education

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils were entered for an AS level or higher examination in critical thinking in  (a) maintained schools and  (b) independent schools in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Academic Year  Number of entries( 1)  in A or AS level Critical Thinking in maintained schools( 2)  Number of entries(1) in A or AS- level Critical Thinking in independent schools 
			 2003-04 5,865 1,249 
			 2004-05 8,586 1,975 
			 2005-06 12,569 2,498 
			 2006-07 15,366 2,664 
			 2007-08 14,789 2,150 
			 (1) Entries by 16-18 year olds (2) Figures for maintained schools do not include entries in further education colleges  Source:  Achievement and Attainment Tables

Departmental Pay

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of staff in his Department and its predecessor have received bonus payments in each of the last five years; what the total amount of bonuses paid was; what the largest single payment was in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested for non-consolidated performance payments to staff is set out as follows:
	
		
			   Staff   
			   Number  Percentage  Total cost ( million)  Largest single payment () 
			 2004-05 1,447 32 1.462 10,000 
			 2005-06 1,408 33 1.835 10,000 
			 2006-07 1,235 33 1.900 20,000 
			 2007-08(1) 1,669 51 2.055 25,000 
			 2008-09 1,403 51 1.900 25,000 
			 (1) Department for Education and Skills to 27 June 2007 and Department for Children, Schools and Families from 28 June 2007. 
		
	
	These payments were met within existing pay controls. Payments are used to drive high performance and those for the senior civil service are based on recommendations from the independent Senior Salaries Review Body.
	The Department has no agencies.

Departmental Public Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the likely change in expenditure by his Department on administration costs between now and 2011.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The estimate of the likely change in administration costs for the DCSF between now (2008-09) and 2011 is as follows:
	
		
			million 
			 2009-10 -5 
			 2010-11 -9 
		
	
	These figures can be found in the HM Treasury published document 2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review on page 203 under table D1: Children's, Schools and Families baselines and additions.

Free School Meals: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children received free school meals in the London Borough of Bexley in each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The numbers of children taking free school meals in the London borough of Bexley, in each of the last five years, are shown in the following statistical releases.
	Pupil Characteristics and Class Sizes in Maintained Schools in England: January 2008 (Provisional):
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000786/index.shtml
	(tables 16 and 17).
	Schools and Pupils in England: January 2007 (Final):
	www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000744/index.shtml
	(tables 19 and 20).
	Schools and Pupils in England: January 2006 (Final):
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000682/index.shtml
	(tables 19 and 20).
	Schools and Pupils in England: January 2005 (Final):
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000606/index.shtml
	(tables 19 and 20).
	Statistics of Education Schools in England 2004 Edition:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000495/index.shtml
	(tables 13 and 14).

Free School Meals: St Albans

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children resident in St Albans received free school meals in  (a) 1997 and  (b) each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information for 1997 is not available. Information for the last five years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of children( 1, 2 ) resident in St. Albans constituency eligible for free school meals 
			   Number of children 
			 2004 1,080 
			 2005 1,044 
			 2006 982 
			 2007 952 
			 2008 913 
			 (1) Includes all full-time and part-time pupils who are solely or dually (main) registered. (2) Includes pupils attending nursery, primary, secondary and special schools, CTCs and academies.  Source:  School Census.

GCE A-Level

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many pupils achieved three A grades at A level and took more than one of  (a) accounting,  (b) art and design,  (c) business studies,  (d) communication studies,  (e) dance,  (f) design and technology,  (g) drama/theatre studies,  (h) film studies,  (i) health and social care,  (j) home economics,  (k) information and communication technology,  (l) leisure studies,  (m) media studies,  (n) music technology,  (o) performance studies,  (p) performing arts,  (q) photography , (r) physical education,  (s) sports studies and  (t) travel and tourism in the last year for which data are available;
	(2)  how many pupils eligible for free school meals achieved three A grades at A level and took more than one of  (a) accounting,  (b) art and design,  (c) business studies,  (d) communication studies,  (e) dance,  (f) design and technology,  (g) drama/theatre studies,  (h) film studies,  (i) health and social care,  (j) home economics,  (k) information and communication technology,  (l) leisure studies,  (m) media studies,  (n) music technology,  (o) performance studies,  (p) performing arts,  (q) photography,  (r) physical education,  (s) sports studies and  (t) travel and tourism in the last year for which data are available.

Jim Knight: The information requested can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

GCE A-level: Disadvantaged

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of pupils eligible to receive free school meals attained an A level in  (a) physics,  (b) mathematics,  (c) chemistry and  (d) biology in 2008.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Candidates( 1)  in schools( 2)  aged 16-18( 3)  eligible for free school meals( 4)  attaining an A level in physics, mathematics, chemistry and biology in 2008( 4) 
			  Pupils eligible for FSM attaining an A level in 2008 
			   Number  Percentage( 5) 
			 Physics 233 4.6 
			 Mathematics 679 13.5 
			 Chemistry 539 10.7 
			 Biology 678 13.5 
			 (1) 16-18 year old candidates entered for GCE/VCE applied A levels and double awards in 2008. (2) Maintained schools only. Pupils taking A levels in independent schools or FE sector colleges are not included. (3) Age at the start of the 2007-08 academic year ie 31 August 2007. (4) Figures are based on amended data. (5) Expressed as a percentage of all pupils eligible to receive free school meals.  Source: National Pupil Database.

GCSE

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of Fresh Start schools reached the benchmark of pupils achieving five A* to C grade GCSEs including English and mathematics in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information is given in the following table. School-level figures for the proportion of pupils achieving five A* to C GCSEs including English and mathematics are not available prior to 2005.
	
		
			  Fresh Start schools reaching the benchmark of 30 per cent. or more of pupils achieving five A* to C GCSEs including English and mathematics 
			   Number of schools  Proportion of Fresh Start schools (Percentage) 
			 2005 1 5.6 
			 2006 2 10.0 
			 2007 4 19.0 
			 2008 9 37.5 
			  Source: Achievement and Attainment Tables.

GCSE: Gifted Children

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many gifted and talented pupils  (a) eligible for and  (b) not eligible for free school meals who obtained level 4 or above in key stage 2 tests in 2003 did not obtain five GCSEs at grade A* to C in 2007.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In 2007, of the identified gifted and talented pupils in the 2006/07 academic year who attained Level 4 or above in the 2003 Key Stage 2 tests, 3,472 (4.7 per cent.) did not attain five GCSEs at grade A* to C. Of those 562 pupils were eligible for free school meals and 2,910 pupils were not eligible for free school meals.

GCSE

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of those pupils studying GCSE chemistry were at  (a) comprehensive,  (b) independent and  (c) grammar schools in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: The following table shows the number of pupils at the end of key stage 4 who attempted GCSE chemistry and the percentage of these pupils who studied at comprehensive, independent and grammar schools.
	
		
			  Number of pupils at the end of key stage 4 attempting GCSE chemistry, by school type 
			   Number of pupils attempting GCSE chemistry  Percentage of which are from: 
			  Year   Comprehensive schools  Independent schools  Grammar schools 
			 2004 43,650 48.7 34.2 16.5 
			 2005 45,929 51.8 32.0 15.6 
			 2006 49,241 54.5 29.8 15.0 
			 2007 51,056 55.8 28.1 15.2 
			 2008(1) 68,289 60.9 21.9 16.1 
			 (1) Changes in science curriculum introduced.

GCSE

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of those pupils studying GCSE biology were at  (a) comprehensive,  (b) independent and  (c) grammar schools in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: The following table shows the number of pupils at the end of key stage 4 who attempted GCSE biology and the percentage of these pupils who studied at comprehensive, independent and grammar schools.
	
		
			  Number of pupils at the end of key stage 4 attempting GCSE biology, by school type 
			   Number of pupils attempting GCSE biology  Percentage of which are from: 
			  Year   Comprehensive schools  Independent schools  Grammar schools 
			 2004 45,344 48.9 34.3 15.9 
			 2005 48,347 52.2 32.1 14.9 
			 2006 51,763 54.8 29.9 14.3 
			 2007 54,168 56.0 28.5 14.3 
			 2008(1) 74,654 61.8 21.2 15.0 
			 (1) Changes in science curriculum introduced.

GCSE

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of students in schools with  (a) mathematics,  (b) arts,  (c) sport,  (d) science,  (e) music,  (f) technology,  (g) business,  (h) engineering and  (i) humanities as a specialism achieved at least five GCSE A* to C grades in each of the last three years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: holding answer 10 February 2009
	The information requested is set out in the following table.
	
		
			Percent age  achieving 5+ A* to C at GCSE or equivalent 
			  Type of specialism  Number of schools( 1, 2)  2006  2007  2008 
			 Arts 454 57 60 64 
			 Business and Enterprise 248 57 60 64 
			 Engineering 64 58 60 64 
			 Humanities 112 61 63 67 
			 Language 224 67 69 73 
			 Maths and Computing 258 62 63 68 
			 Music 22 75 74 77 
			 Science 324 66 67 71 
			 Sports 360 54 58 63 
			 Technology 561 62 64 68 
			 (1) Specialism defined at September 2007 (i.e. the beginning of the 2007/08 academic year). Only schools with results in all three years have been included. (2) Schools with combined specialisms are categorised by their first listed specialism.

Marriage Guidance

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how much of the money allocated through the Children, Young People and Families Grant 2008-09 constituted spending on marriage and relationship support as defined in his Department's document Moving Forward Together (Marriage and relationship support covers help, advice or information that helps people to establish and maintain successful relationships with their partners? Foreword: Moving Forward Together, a Proposed Strategy for Marriage Support for 2002 and Beyond, April 2002);
	(2)  how much of the money allocated through the Children, Young People and Families Grant 2009-10 as announced on 24 December 2008 is for the purpose of spending on marriage and relationship support as defined in his Department's document Moving Forward Together (Marriage and relationship support covers help, advice or information that helps people to establish and maintain successful relationships with their partners? Foreword: Moving Forward Together, a Proposed Strategy for Marriage Support for 2002 and Beyond, April 2002).

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 12 February 2009
	 In 2008-09 3.2 million of grant funding was allocated through the Children, Young People and Families grant programme for the purpose of spending on marriage and relationship support as defined in the Department's document Moving Forward Together.
	In 2009-10 3.8 million of grant funding will be awarded through the Children, Young People and Families grant programme as announced on 24 December 2008 for the purpose of spending on marriage and relationship support as defined in the Department's document Moving Forward Together.

National Curriculum Tests: Disadvantaged

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of 
	(1)   (a) all children,  (b) children in the five per cent. most deprived areas and  (c) children in the 10 per cent. most deprived areas achieved the national standard in the Key Stage 1 assessments in each year since 1997;
	(2)   (a) all children,  (b) children in the five per cent. most deprived areas and  (c) children in the 10 per cent. most deprived areas achieved the national standard in Key Stage 1 (i) reading, (ii) writing, (iii) mathematics and (iv) science assessments in each year since 1997;
	(3)  children in receipt of free school meals achieved the national standard in all Key Stage 1 assessments in each year since 1997;
	(4)  children in receipt of free school meals achieved the national standard in Key Stage 1  (a) reading,  (b) writing,  (c) mathematics and  (d) science assessment in each year since 1997.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department for Children, Schools and Families publishes most of these data annually. Data for 2007/08 can be found in the Statistical First Release: Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2007/08, which can be found at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000822/index.shtml.

Pre-school Education

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of  (a) all children,  (b) children in the five per cent. most deprived areas and  (c) children in the 10 per cent. most deprived areas achieved the national standard (1) in all Foundation Stage Profile assessments in each year for which records are available;
	(2)  in each of the Foundation Stage Profile assessments in each year for which records are available;
	(3)  in the Foundation Stage Profile assessments in (i) personal, social and emotional development, (ii) communication, language and literacy and (iii) mathematical development in each year for which records are available.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: holding answer 23 February 2008
	The information is presented in the following table for 2008 only as information for previous years is not available. Breakdowns by assessment scale can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Children achieving the national standard( 1)  in all foundation stage profile assessments by IDACI( 2)  deprivation of pupil residence, 2008( 3) 
			   Children achieving a good level of development in all foundation stage profile assessments 
			   Number  Percentage 
			 All children(4) 264,621 49 
			 5% most deprived areas 13,891 34 
			 10% most deprived areas 26,994 35 
			 (1 )A good level of development, defined as achieving six or more points in at least seven key scales and achieving 78 or more points across all scales. (2 )Income Deprivation Affecting Children Indices. (3 )Figures are based on unamended data. (4 )Only children of known residence are included.  Source:  National Pupil Database

Pre-school Education

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of children in receipt of free school meals achieved the national standard in each of the Foundation Stage Profile assessments in each year for which records are available.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: holding answer 23 February 2009
	In 2008, 31 per cent. of children eligible for free school meals achieved a good level of development compared to 52 per cent. of children not eligible for free school meals. A good level of development is defined as achieving at least 78 or more points across all 13 scales of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile and at least six or more points in each of the seven scales in Personal, Social and Emotional Development and Communication, Language and Literacy. Figures are not available for previous years.

Pupil Exclusions: Suffolk

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children attending schools in Suffolk between the ages of four and 11 years were suspended from school in each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information on fixed period exclusions was collected for the first time for the school year 2003/04. In 2005/06 the method of data collection changed and information was collected from secondary schools only. In 2006/07 data were also collected from primary and special schools. The available information is shown in the table:
	
		
			  Primary, secondary and special schools( 1, 2) , pupils aged four to 11 receiving one or more episodes of fixed period exclusion( 3) , Suffolk LA 2003/04 to 2006/07 
			   Number of pupils with one episode or more of fixed period exclusion  As a percentage of the school population( 4) 
			 2003/04 660 0.65 
			 2004/05 590 0.58 
			 2005/06(5) 410 0.75 
			 2006/07 650 0.65 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2 )Includes maintained primary, secondary and special schools. For 2003/04 and 2004/05 excludes CTCs and academies (3 )Pupils aged as at 31 August at the beginning of the school year. (4 )The number of pupils with a fixed period exclusion expressed as a percentage of the headcount of pupils in January each year, excluding dual registrations. (5 )Data for 2005/06 exclude primary and special schools, information for secondary schools only is shown.  Source.  Termly Exclusions Survey.

Pupil Referral Units

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupil referral units are in special measures; and in which local authority areas those units are.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 23 January 2009
	There are 10 pupil referral units currently in special measures and they are as follows:
	
		
			   Units 
			 Cumbria 1 
			 Hampshire 2 
			 Havering 1 
			 Leicestershire 1 
			 Norfolk 1 
			 Poole 1 
			 Staffordshire 1 
			 Walsall 1 
			 West Sussex 1 
			  Source: EduBase

Pupil Referral Units: Pupil Exclusions

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils were given a fixed-period exclusion from a pupil referral unit in 2008.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The requested information on exclusions from pupil referral units in 2008 is not collected centrally.

Pupils: Absenteeism

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will change the formula for calculating attendance statistics for schools to prevent schools being penalised in the event of pupils not attending as a result of adverse weather conditions.

Jim Knight: The Government believe that every lesson counts and it is right that schools should stay open wherever reasonably practicable during severe weather conditions, subject to health and safety considerations. If some of a school's pupils whose home is not within walking distance of the school get to school by transport that is provided by the school or a local education authority, and that transport is not available because of adverse weather conditions, then if the school stays open, those pupils should be marked using code Y (forced and partial closure). Code Y does not count as absence in the statistics. All other children should be expected to attend and should be recorded as present/absent as normal. Our data do not enable us to alter the formula in any way that would isolate the absences due to inclement weather, or even the days concernedwe only have total numbers of absences for each term and cannot isolate particular days (or even weeks). This does mean that the absence percentage for a school that stays open may be higher than if it had closed if significant numbers of pupils are unable to attend. However, our main focus is on persistent absence (which we define as missing 20 per cent. or more of possible sessions). It is unlikely that persistent absence would be significantly affected by short periods of adverse weather. Moreover when looking at attendance, Ofsted inspectors look at trends over time. When looking at registers, if there appear to be specific days or periods of time when there is high absence inspectors will discuss with the school the reasons for it. Similarly the national strategies will take account of such circumstances in their support and challenge work on persistent absence with LAs and schools.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the proportion of students in receipt of free school meals is in  (a) religious and  (b) non-religious schools.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The requested information is shown in the table:
	
		
			  Primary, secondary and special schools( 1) : school meal arrangements by denomination of school( 2) As at January 2008: England 
			   Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 
			 Religious schools(3) 11.5 
			 Other schools 15.7 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed, CTCs, academies and non-maintained special schools. Excludes hospital schools. (2) Includes pupils with sole and dual main registration. Includes boarders. (3) Includes schools of all denominations and religions.  Source: School Census

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which schools had  (a) between 30 and 50 per cent. and  (b) more than 50 per cent. of pupils in receipt of free school meals in 2008.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The requested information has been placed in the Libraries.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children resident in Hemel Hempstead received free school meals in  (a) 1997 and  (b) each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information for 1997 is not available. Information for the last five years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number of children( 1,2)  resident in Hemel Hempstead constituency eligible for free school meals 
			   Number 
			 2004 1,686 
			 2005 1,636 
			 2006 1,533 
			 2007 1,617 
			 2008 1,543 
			 (1) Includes all full-time and part-time pupils who are solely or dually (main) registered. (2) Includes pupils attending nursery, primary, secondary and special schools, CTCs and academies.  Source: School Census

Schools: Anti-Semitism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what steps the Government are taking to protect Jewish schoolchildren from anti-Semitic attacks by other schoolchildren; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the incidence of  (a) bullying and  (b) intimidation of Jewish students in schools since December 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Schools are under a legal duty to promote race equality and it is compulsory for schools to have measures in place to prevent and tackle all forms of bullying, whatever the motivation. In March 2006 we published specialist guidance on bullying around race, religion and culture which focused on preventing and tackling racist and religious bullying in schools and included specific material on bullying related to anti-Semitism. We are funding the Anti-Bullying Alliance and national strategies to ensure the guidance is effectively embedded in local authorities and schools, and are monitoring the situation closely.
	We have also published a toolkit to help schools contribute to the prevention of violent extremism. The toolkit includes advice on how to protect pupils from violent extremism, manage risks and respond to incidents locally, nationally or internationally that might have an impact on the school community.
	We do not collect data on bullying or incidents of intimidation centrally although we are aware that Jewish pupils can be particularly vulnerable to bullying. We intend to introduce a new statutory duty on schools to record all incidents of bullying between pupils later this year, and will specifically consult on whether schools should be obliged to record racist incidents.

Schools: Boilers

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools in Gloucestershire are heated by oil-powered boilers; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The Department does not hold this information. However, we have contacted South Gloucestershire Council and Gloucestershire county council and they have told us that in South Gloucestershire there are 23 schools heated by oil-fired boilers out of a total of 115 local authority maintained schools and in Gloucestershire 40 schools out of a total of 310 schools are heated by oil. The majority of these schools are rural primary schools which do not have a gas supply.

Schools: Health Education

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to inform school children of the adverse effects of  (a) smoking and  (b) alcohol abuse.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Currently all schools should teach pupils about the effects of smoking and alcohol abuse, as part of drug education, through a well planned programme of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. The Department's guidance, Drugs: Guidance for Schools (DfES 2004) sets out in broad terms what should be covered in each key stage.
	We announced our intention to make PSHE education statutory in October 2008, in recognition of the key role it plays in equipping children and young people with the knowledge and skills they need to lead healthy and successful lives. At the same time we launched an independent review of how this might be achieved in the most effective and practicable way. Sir Alasdair Macdonald, the headteacher of Morpeth school in Tower Hamlets, is conducting the review and will report in April 2009. Proposals for the statutory implementation of PSHE will be the subject of a full public consultation.
	We cannot expect drug and alcohol education on its own to solve the drug problem in this country. That is why we are also increasing our focus on intervening with families at risk and continue to improve the support and treatment that the vulnerable young people who are most likely to develop a problem need.
	We need parents and Children's Services to join with schools and colleges to raise awareness amongst young people of the risks and impacts of drug and alcohol use.
	It is important that Government presents information to young people in ways that they find accessible. For that reason, on 29 January 2009, we launched a consultation on 'Children, Young People and Alcohol' alongside the chief medical officer's guidance on 'safer drinking' to find out what information and advice parents and young people would find useful to inform their decisions about young people's drinking and to help reduce harm caused by it.

Schools: Standards

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in how many and what proportion of schools where the proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is  (a) less than 10 per cent.,  (b) 10 per cent. to 20 per cent. and  (c) over 20 per cent. Ofsted has evaluated teaching as (i) inadequate, (ii) satisfactory, (iii) good and (iv) outstanding in the latest year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM chief inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the Libraries.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 10 February 2009:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	Since the introduction of the current school inspection framework (commonly known as section 5) in September 2005, Ofsted has evaluated teaching as part of the judgement 'How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of learners' needs?'
	Table A shows that, of 7,862 school inspections carried out by Ofsted in 2007/08, 3,704 were of schools with less than 10% of pupils eligible for free school meals, 1,737 were of schools with between 10% and 20% of pupils eligible for free school meals, and the remaining 2,421 were of schools with greater than 20% of pupils eligible for free school meals. The table includes the inspection outcomes for each of these groups.
	
		
			  Table A: The effectiveness of teaching and learning in meeting the full range of learners' needs for schools inspected in 2007/08 
			How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of learners' needs 
			Outstanding  Good  Satisfactory  Inadequate 
			  Percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals  Number of inspections of schools  No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  No.  % 
			 Less than 10% 3,704 602 16 2,159 58 904 24 39 1 
			 Greater than or equal to 10% but less than or equal to 20% 1,737 171 10 840 48 668 38 58 3 
			 Greater than 20% 2,421 213 9 1,080 45 1,009 42 119 5 
			 All schools 7,862 986 13 4,079 52 2,581 33 216 3 
		
	
	Data on proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals are taken from the DCSF's 2008 Annual Schools' Census and are calculated as the percentage of compulsory school age pupils in the school. There are schools for which Annual Schools' Census 2008 data are available, but the free school meals eligibility field is blank. It has been assumed that they had 0% of pupils eligible for free school meals.
	Please note that in 2007/08 one school was inspected twice and has been counted twice in this analysis. Four schools inspected in 2007/08 have been excluded from this analysis: two of these only have provision for pupils aged 16 to 18, and there was no Annual Schools' Census 2008 data available for the remaining two.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Rt. Hon Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.

Science: GCE A Level

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils eligible for free school meals gained an A grade in  (a) mathematics,  (b) physics and  (c) chemistry A level in 2008.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Candidates( 1)  in schools( 2)  aged 16-18( 3)  eligible for free school meals achieving grade A in math ematics, physics and chemistry A- level in 2008( 4) 
			   Number of pupils eligible for FSM achieving grade A 
			 Mathematics 195 
			 Physics 43 
			 Chemistry 96 
			 (1) 16-18 year old candidates entered for GCE/VCE applied A-levels and Double Awards in 2008. (2) Maintained schools only. Pupils taking A-levels in independent schools or FE sector colleges are not included. (3) Age at the start of the 2007/08 academic year i.e. 31 August 2007. (4) Figures are based on amended data.  Source: National Pupil Database

Sixth Form Education: Finance

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent discussions he has had with the Learning and Skills Council on the funding of schools with sixth forms where the number of pupils exceeds the stated anticipated number; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is currently agreeing with school sixth forms the funding allocations for 2009/10. Those allocations will take account of the number of pupils schools recruited and retained in 2008/09 and whether this was above or below planned expectations. We anticipate that where numbers exceeded plans in 2008/09, this above planned growth will be consolidated into 2009/10 allocations. However, this will be subject to affordability.
	Under the current system, grant funded providers (schools and further education colleges) do not have their funding allocation varied during the year unless they can demonstrate their allocation causes them financial difficulty. Where this is the case the LSC will consider, on a case by case basis, the need for extra funding in exceptional circumstances. However, as announced in the LSC's Annual Statement of Priorities, published in November 2008, the DCSF and LSC are currently considering whether a more flexible system of funding is needed to best ensure that funding matches learner choice.

Sixth Form Education: Finance

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families under what circumstances schools receive exceptional funding support for sixth forms; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: holding answer 23 February 2009
	 Exceptional funding for a school sixth form is only available on a case-by-case basis either from a local authority (LA) or from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).
	The financial viability of a sixth form cannot be distinguished from the overall financial viability of the school, which is the responsibility of the local authority. Local authorities have the discretion, through the School Finance (England) Regulations 2008, to support schools in financial difficulty providing that they have agreed with their schools forum the arrangements for implementation of such support. Where a school gets into a deficit it must agree a deficit recovery plan with the LA.
	The only circumstances in which the LSC would consider exceptional financial support to a school sixth form would be if one year's funding allocation caused the school a particular financial difficulty. The LSC would consider such exceptional action only in relation to the individual circumstances arising in the school's sixth form.

Social Services: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families into which children's services he has sent intervention teams in the last 12 months; what the remit of those teams has been; and whether he will make their findings public.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 22 January 2009
	Officials from the Intervention Unit in DCSF are routinely sent to each local authority that receives an inadequate judgment by Ofsted in their annual performance assessment (APA) and/or their joint area review (JAR). Judgments are published on Ofsted's website:
	http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxcare_providers/list_by_la.
	Ministers subsequently receive advice on the nature of any intervention considered necessary to bring about improvements in children's services. Ministers' decisions are communicated to the local authority and to other interested parties.

Social Services: Greater London

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many social workers in each London borough were agency employees at the latest date for which figures are available.

Beverley Hughes: Social workers are directly recruited by their employers. The Department for Children, Schools and Families does not collect information on how many agency staff are employed within these settings.
	In their Children's, Young People's and Families' Social Care Workforce Survey 2006, the local authority workforce intelligence group estimated that the total number of children's social care work force agency staff employed by London boroughs was 1,290. The survey went on to suggest that around a third of these agency staff covered field social work posts.
	In December 2008, we announced a social work taskforce which will make recommendations for long term development of social work; social worker recruitment and retention will be considered as part of this.

Special Educational Needs: Disadvantaged

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils in  (a) primary schools and  (b) secondary schools in each decile of income deprivation affecting children indices had statements of special educational needs in each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested for 2004, 2007 and 2008 is shown as follows. The full-time series can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Number( 1)  of pupils( 2)  with statements of special educational needs by IDACI( 3)  decile of known residence, 2004, 2007 and 2008( 4) 
			   Primary Schools  Secondary Schools( 5) 
			   2004  2007  2008  2004  2007  2008 
			 0-10% 10,630 9,230 8,960 12,370 10,390 9,670 
			 10-20% 9,300 7,980 7,490 11,170 9,660 8,950 
			 20-30% 8,350 6,870 7,000 10,040 8,570 8,050 
			 30-40% 7,390 6,470 6,110 8,610 7,730 7,120 
			 40-50% 6,780 5,920 5,620 7,480 6,740 6,610 
			 50-60% 5,870 5,300 5,240 6,850 6,140 5,860 
			 60-70% 5,620 5,020 4,850 6,520 6,020 5,690 
			 70-80% 5,380 4,850 4,700 5,770 5,490 5,310 
			 80-90% 5,010 4,660 4,470 5,350 5,090 5,170 
			 90-100% 4,860 4,640 4,370 4,410 4,480 4,510 
			 (1 )Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. (2 )Excludes dually registered pupils. (3 )Income Deprivation Affecting Children Indices. (4 )0-10% = most deprived. (5 )Includes CTCs and academies.  Source:  School Census

Special Educational Needs: Pupil Exclusions

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2009,  Official Report, column 2117W on special educational needs: pupil exclusions, what the equivalent figures were for each year since 1997.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information on fixed period exclusions was collected for the first time for the school year 2003/04.
	In 2005/06 the method of data collection changed and information was collected from secondary schools only. We have consequently provided information for the school years 2003/04 and 2004/05, the only years for which comparable figures are available.
	
		
			  Maintained primary schools( 1) : number of fixed period exclusions by special educational needs and by reason for exclusion 2003/04England 
			   Pupils with SEN 
			 Physical assault against a pupil 7,470 
			 Physical assault against an adult 3,970 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against a pupil 1,270 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against an adult 3,910 
			 Bullying 510 
			 Racist abuse 180 
			 Sexual misconduct 170 
			 Drug and alcohol related 80 
			 Damage 550 
			 Theft 220 
			 Persistent disruptive behaviour 8,830 
			 Other 1,910 
			 Total(2) 29,090 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes two exclusions where the reason cannot be determined.  Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: School Census 
		
	
	
		
			  Maintained primary schools( 1) : number of fixed period exclusions by special educational needs and by reason for exclusion 2004/05England 
			   Pupils with SEN 
			 Physical assault against a pupil 7,990 
			 Physical assault against an adult 4,510 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against a pupil 1,430 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against an adult 4,360 
			 Bullying 440 
			 Racist abuse 230 
			 Sexual misconduct 190 
			 Drug and alcohol related 70 
			 Damage 650 
			 Theft 230 
			 Persistent disruptive behaviour 9,070 
			 Other 1,430 
			 Total 30,590 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed.  Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: School Census

Special Educational Needs: Young Offender Institutions

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 12 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 2263-64W, on special educational needs: young offender institutions, what the source was of the figure provided by the Learning and Skills Council for the number of young people in juvenile accommodation in young offender institutions referred to special educational needs co-ordinators.

Beverley Hughes: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) collects monthly returns from the educational providers with whom they contract to deliver learning and skills provision within juvenile young offender institutions. The providers are required to provide data returns, including information on the number of young people referred to the special educational needs co-ordinators, to the LSC on a monthly basis.

DEFENCE

Departmental Manpower

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) military and  (b) civilian staff his Department employs in City of York constituency; and how many have been so employed in each year since 1994.

Kevan Jones: The following table shows the number of military and civilian personnel based in York Unitary Authority at 1 April in each year since 2002. Figures prior to 2002 are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			   Military  Civilian 
			 2002 640 n/a 
			 2003 n/a n/a 
			 2004 n/a n/a 
			 2005 730 n/a 
			 2006 710 760 
			 2007 800 650 
			 2008 840 650 
			 n/a = Denotes not available. 
		
	
	Civilian figures are based on Full Time Equivalence (FTE). FTE is a measure of the size of the workforce that takes account of the actual hours worked by part-time employees.
	2003-04 military figures are not available because of concerns over data quality.
	Monitoring of civilian location data by Local and Unitary Authority was introduced in April 2006, prior to this date location data by Local and Unitary Authority is not available.
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff in his Department were recorded as having been on sick leave for over 12 months on 31 December in each of the last five years.

Kevan Jones: Numbers of MOD civilian staff who have been continuously absent for over 12 months due to sickness on 31 December for each of the last four years are given as follows:
	
		
			   Number of staff with at least 12 months sick absence as at 31 December 
			 2005 140 
			 2006 170 
			 2007 180 
			 2008 170 
			  Notes: 1. These figures are derived from the HRMS system which excludes staff in trading funds, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and locally engaged civilians. They have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Numbers are not given for 31 December 2004, as data were still being migrated to the system during this year.

Ex-servicemen: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many homes are provided for service personnel and their families in City of York constituency; and how many have been provided in each year since 1994.

Kevan Jones: There are currently 326 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties in the City of York, with a further 13 families living in substitute SFA.
	Information is not available for previous years.

Falkland Islands: Warships

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the performance of J.A.Gardner and Company in providing the Coastal Re-Supply Service in the Falkland Islands since 1982;
	(2)  for what reason the Royal Navy has declined to award a new Falkland Islands Coastal Re-Supply Service contract to J.A.Gardner and Company;
	(3)  whether the Royal Navy sent representatives to the Falkland Islands to assess the work of J.A.Gardner and Company in operating the Coastal Re-Supply Service before the decision not to renew the firm's contract was taken.

Bob Ainsworth: The MOD currently operates two shipping contracts in the Falklands Islands: one with J and A Gardner who provide coastal re-supply services; and the other with Van Wijngaarden Marine Services B V, who carry out harbour support. Both companies provide a satisfactory service.
	As the contracts with both companies are coming to an end, a decision has been made to merge both the coastal re-supply and harbour support services under one requirement rather than renew both contracts. This will deliver value for money for the taxpayer. In accordance with MOD and EU commercial regulations, the requirement was competed last year and both J and A Gardner and Van Wijngaarden submitted proposals along with a number of other companies. All the bids were evaluated on an equitable basis against declared technical and commercial evaluation criteria.
	The tender evaluation panel was made up of MOD civilian personnel, some of whom visited the Falkland Islands on a number of occasions and who have, therefore, built up a good working knowledge of the requirement. The views of MOD personnel based on the Islands, who are responsible for the day to day operation of the service, were also obtained.
	The contract was awarded to Van Wijngaarden, as theirs was the most technically advantageous and affordable proposal, on 23 January 2009 with service commencement on 1 April 2009.

HMS Vanguard

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what reports he has received from the First Sea Lord on the recent collision between HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant; whether the crew of HMS Vanguard sustained any injuries; whether he plans to commission an inquiry into the incident; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Two submerged SSBN, one French and the other UK, were conducting routine national patrols in the Atlantic Ocean. The two submarines came into contact at very low speed. Both submarines remained safe and no injuries occurred. I can confirm that the UK's deterrent capability has remained unaffected at all times and there has been no compromise to nuclear safety. HMS Vanguard returned safely to Faslane under her own power on 14 February.
	As one would expect, the MOD takes this incident very seriously and a thorough review is under way. We will act on any lessons that might be identified.

Military Aircraft

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many transport and tanker aircraft were available for deployment by the armed forces in each year since 2001.

Quentin Davies: I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.
	 Substantive answer from Quentin Davies to Liam Fox:
	I undertook to write to you in answer to your Parliamentary Question on 22 January 2009 (Official Report, column 1675W), about the number of transport and tanker aircraft available for deployment by the armed forces in each year since 2001.
	All aircraft in the Forward Fleet are available for potential deployments worldwide. The average Forward Fleet figures for each transport and tanker aircraft type are shown in the following table and are rounded to the nearest aircraft.
	
		
			   Financial year 
			  Aircraft type  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09( 1) 
			 Hercules C130 K (2) 14 12 13 12 
			 Hercules C130 J (2) 22 20 19 19 
			 VC10 (3)16 15 14 13 12 
			 Tristar (3)6 7 6 7 7 
			 C-17 (3)3 3 3 4 5 
			 (1 )Numbers are provided as at 31 December 2008. (2) Not recorded. (3) Figure is an average for January-March 2005, prior to which the data is not available. 
		
	
	I hope this is helpful.

Veterans Day: Plymouth

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for Plymouth to participate in Veterans Day on 27 June 2009.

Kevan Jones: We are greatly encouraged that, along with many other towns and cities across the country, Plymouth city council are planning to hold an Armed Forces Day event on 27 June 2009. Armed Forces Day builds on the success of previous Veterans Day events and is intended to provide an opportunity for the whole nation to celebrate our armed forces, past, present and future. We expect that the veterans community, which includes all those who have served in the armed forces, widows and bereaved relatives of those who served and Merchant Mariners who saw duty on military operations, will remain very much at the centre of events.
	Plymouth city council applied to the Ministry of Defence for a grant of 10,000 to assist towards the cost of their armed forces and veterans week and this has been awarded, together with the provisional allocation of a military band and a fly past from a DC3 of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight to support an memorial event planned for 28 June on Plymouth Hoe.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

NGOs

Anthony Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make it his policy to introduce annual headquarter grants to non-governmental organisations which fall within his Department's area of responsibility.

Kevin Brennan: Government support for the sector has never been stronger, which is why we have committed 60 million to support strategic partnerships with third sector organisations. Over 5 years from 2006-11 we will provide core funding to a range of national and regional organisations. This type of grant funding offers real financial stability to our strategic partners, whilst enabling the views of the sector on the development of Government policy to be heard.

Third Sector

Adrian Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what support his Department is providing to charities and voluntary organisations to assist them in mitigating the effects of the economic downturn.

Liam Byrne: Real help for communities: volunteers, charities and social enterprises provides a 42.5 million package for the sector to support people through the downturn.

Social Mobility

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent progress has been made in implementing the measures announced in the social mobility White Paper; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The measures announced in the New Opportunities White Paper are for implementation between January 2009 and spring 2011.
	There were three measures announced that were for implementation prior to today, all of which have been implemented on time.
	The Cabinet Office is monitoring ongoing delivery by departments.

Social Entrepreneurs

Rob Marris: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps he is taking to increase the number of social entrepreneurs.

John Mann: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, what steps he is taking to increase the number of social entrepreneurs.

Liam Byrne: I refer my hon. Friends to the answer I gave earlier today.

Voluntary Sector

Robert Flello: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what funding his Department is providing to voluntary sector organisations working to assist deprived communities in 2008-09.

Liam Byrne: The Government are investing in deprived communities who need real help now. The third sector plays a vital role as a safety net and springboard for people in need and in recognition of this, investment by the Government in the third sector has doubled since 1997 to a total of 11 billion a year.
	Two weeks ago, the Government launched the Real Help for Communities Action Plan, which provides a further 42.5 million from April 2009 to help volunteers, charities and social enterprises deliver more real help to those who need it most.
	This included the 15.5 million community resilience fund, targeted at areas most at risk of increasing levels of deprivation due to the recession.

Transport Network Resilience

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what his responsibilities are for coordination of action across Government to ensure the resilience of the transport network.

Tom Watson: Responsibility for the provision of resilient transport services rests primarily with the owners and operators of those services. Within Government, the Department for Transport and, where appropriate, the devolved Administrations work with the regulators, owners and operators to ensure, as appropriate, that standards are in place and effective contingency arrangements exist.
	The Cabinet Office has departmental responsibility for the generic local response framework within England and Wales, including responsibility for the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. The Cabinet Office will, where appropriate, also provide support to the lead department on cross-cutting issues in an emergency as part of the Cabinet Office's wider role of supporting effective Government and collective ministerial responsibility.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with reference to the answer of 2 June 2008,  Official Report, column 614W, on apprentices, what progress has been made in increasing the number of apprentices in the Cabinet Office; and how many apprentices his Department currently employs.

Tom Watson: The Department now employs four apprentices as part of the Government's pathfinder project. As part of the Department's Skills Strategy, there is a firm commitment to increase the number of apprentices to 20 by March 2010.

Cabinet: Visits

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what the cost of the Cabinet visit to Leeds was; and what the cost of  (a) staff time,  (b) staff travel,  (c) staff accommodation,  (d) ministerial travel,  (e) ministerial accommodation,  (f) hire and additional costs of venue,  (g) publicity,  (h) security and  (i) associated ministerial visit was;
	(2)  what the cost of the Cabinet visit to Liverpool was; and what the cost of  (a) staff time,  (b) staff travel,  (c) staff accommodation,  (d) ministerial travel,  (e) ministerial accommodation,  (f) hire and additional costs of venue,  (g) publicity,  (h) security and  (i) associated ministerial visits was.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 29 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 738-39W .

Departmental Buildings

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether a display energy certificate has been produced for each building under his Department's administration in Whitehall.

Tom Watson: Display Energy Certificates have been produced for all Cabinet Office buildings, and are displayed in receptions.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) on 23 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 390-91W.

Departmental Lobbying

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether Ministers in his Department received representations from  (a) Lord Moonie,  (b) Lord Taylor of Blackburn,  (c) Lord Snape and  (d) Lord Truscott in the last seven months.

Liam Byrne: We have no record of receiving any representations to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster or his Ministers from Lord Moonie, Lord Taylor of Blackburn, Lord Snape or Lord Truscott in the last seven months.

Departmental Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 270-71W, on departmental public relations, in which areas of work or projects the external public relations firms were engaged; and for what reasons in-house communications staff were not used in each instance.

Patrick McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
	This Department used companies from the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework for the following areas of work in the last three full financial years:
	
		
			  Company  Area of work  Amount spent () 
			  2007-08( 1)   
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 172,630.27 
			 GCI Employing People campaign 30,030 
			 Total  202,660.27 
			
			  2006-07( 2)   
			 Fishburn Hedges DTI Gap analysis 9,071 
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 163,642 
			 GCI Business Link 179,113 
			 Total  351,826 
			
			  2005-06   
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 76,240 
			 GCI Small Business Service 105,786 
			 Harrison Cowley Consumer Direct 239,050 
			 Wright Communication Consumer Direct 32,694 
			 Total  453,770 
			 (1 )April to June 2007 as DTI and BERR from June 2007. (2 )Spend by the former DTI.  Note:  These costs are inclusive of COI fees. 
		
	
	In all cases, PR agencies were employed to carry out work for which there was no available in-house resource. PR campaigns by their nature are time-limited and so it would not be cost-efficient to retain staff internally to run them. Contracting outside agencies also enables the Department to gain external specialist expertise as well as supporting the creative industries. PR contracts are placed taking account of Cabinet Office Propriety Guidance.

Public Sector: Pensions

Rudi Vis: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 16 December 2008,  Official Report, columns 111-12WS, on guaranteed minimum pension calculations, how the errors in payments in some public service pensions were discovered.

Liam Byrne: As part of its management and control of the Civil Service pension arrangements the Cabinet Office commissioned an exercise to check data held by its pensioner payroll contractor with Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) data. This exercise highlighted the fact that GMP information was missing for a small proportion of Civil Service pensioners. Other public service schemes have commissioned similar checks and have discovered that they are also affected by this issue.

Unemployment

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 500-01W, on the unemployed, how many people aged 16 to 24 years were unemployed in each region  (a) in each year since 1997 and  (b) in each of the last eight quarters.

Kevin Brennan: h olding answer 12 February 2009
	 The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated February 200 9 :
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009, Official Report, columns 500-1W, on unemployed, how many people aged 16 to 24 years were unemployed in each region (a) each year since 1997 and (b) in each of the last eight quarters. (256672)
	The requested information is shown in the attached table. Estimates for October-December 2008 have also been included as these have become available since the previous answer was provided.
	The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	The figures in the table are derived from the LFS microdata which are weighted using the official population estimates published in autumn 2007. Consequently the estimates from Q3 2006 are not entirely consistent with the figures published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release, which are weighted using more up-to- date population estimates.
	
		
			  Unemployed people aged 16-24, by region, Quarter 3 1997 to 2006; all calendar quarters from quarter 4 2006 to quarter 4 2008, United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			  Thousand 
			North East  North West  Yorkshire and Humberside  East Midlands  West Midlands  Eastern  London 
			 1997 Q3 39 93 60 42 74 54 118 
			 1998 Q3 34 87 67 44 61 46 105 
			 1999 Q3 44 84 56 53 65 46 85 
			 2000 Q3 45 74 61 44 63 35 99 
			 2001 Q3 29 74 49 40 59 54 99 
			 2002 Q3 28 69 63 40 73 47 97 
			 2003 Q3 39 80 52 43 74 46 105 
			 2004 Q3 36 76 60 40 80 48 118 
			 2005 Q3 44 78 64 42 63 49 117 
			 2006 Q3 42 96 81 62 86 59 122 
			  
			 2006 Q4 29 81 71 59 72 49 99 
			  
			 2007 Q1 33 78 67 61 68 51 93 
			 2007 Q2 37 78 60 49 72 51 96 
			 2007 Q3 40 106 68 66 85 72 104 
			 2007 Q4 29 87 64 51 54 48 100 
			  
			 2008 Q1 30 82 52 56 64 54 95 
			 2008 Q2 36 85 72 57 64 58 96 
			 2008 Q3 50 120 95 69 82 63 116 
			 2008 Q4(1) ***42 **112 ***72 ***50 **80 ***63 **110 
		
	
	
		
			  Thousand 
			South East  South West  Wales  Scotland  Northern Ireland  Total 
			 1997 Q3 74 40 38 69 23 724 
			 1998 Q3 74 47 43 72 19 698 
			 1999 Q3 64 37 38 63 (2) 651 
			 2000 Q3 58 38 39 64 (2) 631 
			 2001 Q3 64 39 32 69 20 628 
			 2002 Q3 74 41 30 72 17 649 
			 2003 Q3 75 36 34 70 (2) 669 
			 2004 Q3 68 40 36 62 (2) 681 
			 2005 Q3 81 46 37 66 (2) 701 
			 2006 Q3 88 49 38 60 (2) 797 
			 
			 2006 Q4 72 45 39 50 (2) 676 
			 
			 2007 Q1 73 51 33 51 (2) 669 
			 2007 Q2 75 39 42 62 (2) 675 
			 2007 Q3 98 53 38 60 (2) 806 
			 2007 Q4 92 34 30 57 (2) 663 
			 
			 2008 Q1 70 40 28 56 (2) 642 
			 2008 Q2 76 35 29 54 (2) 676 
			 2008 Q3 96 52 49 55 (2) 864 
			 2008 Q4(1) **92 ***48 ***49 ***55 ****(2) *793 
			 (1)( )Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates, as described below: (2) Sample size too small for reliable estimate.  Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV - for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220.  Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical robustness  * 0 = CV [le] 5 Estimates are considered precise. ** 5 = CV [le] 10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise. *** 10 = CV [le] 20 Estimates are considered acceptable. **** CV = 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes.  Note: It should be noted that the estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc).

Work Experience

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether the proposed new national internship scheme will apply to the Civil Service.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government are committed to helping new graduates into work in these challenging economic times and one of our proposals is to increase the availability of graduate internships across a wide range of sectors. It is as yet too early for me to say exactly where those additional internships will be available, but we are currently consulting key stakeholders, including other civil service employers, about the development of our proposal.

BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Bankruptcy: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many  (a) bankruptcy orders and  (b) individual voluntary agreements were recorded in Milton Keynes in each year since 1997.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 23 February 2009
	Table 1 as follows shows the number of bankruptcies and individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) in Milton Keynes in each year between 2000 and 2007, derived from postcodes provided by insolvent individuals(1, 2). Earlier figures are not available on this basis; figures for 2008 are not yet available.
	(1 )Classifying bankrupts and IVAs into administrative geographies is done using the postcode that the insolvent individual provides. The use of this in assigning an individual to a borough is thus only as reliable as the postcode information provided.
	(2 )In particular, inaccurate or missing postcodes mean that the numbers in the above table will be subject to an element of missing data. Nationally, for bankruptcies, this proportion has been decreasing from about 12 per cent. in 2000 to less than 4 per cent. in 2007. For IVAs this proportion has been decreasing from about 15 per cent. in 2000 to about 3 per cent. in 2007.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			   Bankruptcies  IVAs 
			 2000 83 29 
			 2001 107 27 
			 2002 109 29 
			 2003 128 38 
			 2004 178 50 
			 2005 186 128 
			 2006 304 235 
			 2007 306 274

Broadband

Nick Herbert: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what proportion of households in rural areas  (a) are connected to and  (b) have the capacity to be connected to (i) 256 kb/s, (ii) 512 kb/s, (iii) 1MB/s and (iv) 2 MB/s broadband.

Patrick McFadden: The matter raised is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the chief executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Broadband

Michael Penning: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
	(1)  what his most recent estimate is of the number of households which have access to broadband internet in  (a) Hemel Hempstead,  (b) Hertfordshire and  (c) England;
	(2)  what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of households which own a computer.

Patrick McFadden: The matters raised are the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the chief executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Broadband

Mark Oaten: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what his most recent estimate of the number of households which have access to broadband internet in  (a) Winchester,  (b) Hampshire and  (c) England is.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The matter raised is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the chief executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Broadband: Wales

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimates he has made of the cost of ensuring that every household in Wales can receive high speed broadband services.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 4 February 2009
	This Department has not made any assessment of the costs of such action. However, the Welsh Assembly Government launched a programme of activities to transform broadband availability and take up across Wales in 2002. The Regional Innovative Broadband Support Scheme provided funding to upgrade 35 telephone exchanges in Wales, making broadband available to an additional 7,500 premises.
	They are shortly to announce the awarding of a contract to look further into this not spot issue and how best to address it. This followed on from a registration scheme it set up to enable those who cannot access broadband to register their demand for broadband. To date there are over 1,400 registrations.

Broadband: West Yorkshire

John Battle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
	(1)  how many households have access to broadband in  (a) Leeds West constituency,  (b) Leeds Metropolitan area and  (c) West Yorkshire;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of households with  (a) a computer and  (b) access to broadband in Leeds West constituency.

Patrick McFadden: The matter raised is the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is accountable to Parliament rather than Ministers. Accordingly, I have asked the chief executive of Ofcom to reply directly to my right hon. Friend. Copies of the chief executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Caio Review

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on what date the Caio Review was commissioned; and on what date it reported.

Patrick McFadden: The Caio Review was announced on 22 February 2008 and its findings published on 12 September 2008, in the report The Next Phase of Broadband UK: Action now for long term competitiveness at:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file47788.pdf
	and the Government published a formal response to the Caio report on 29 January alongside the Digital Britain Interim Report:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/digital_britain_interimreportian09_annex3.pdf

Company Liquidations

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many companies have gone into liquidation  (a) in each of the last 10 financial years and  (b) in 2008-09 to date in (i) North West Cambridgeshire constituency, (ii) Cambridgeshire, (iii) the East of England and (iv) England and Wales.

Patrick McFadden: The following table shows the number of company liquidations in the last 10 financial years for England and Wales. Corporate liquidation statistics are not currently available on a regional basis within England and Wales.
	
		
			  Company liquidations( 1, 2 ) in England and Wales 
			  Financial year  Number 
			 1998-99 13,850 
			 1999-2000 14,005 
			 2000-01 14,623 
			 2001-02 15,170 
			 2002-03 15,962 
			 2003-04 13,635 
			 2004-05 11,954 
			 2005-06 13,447 
			 2006-07 12,847 
			 2007-08 12,495 
			 2008-09(3) 12,273 
			 (1) Including creditors voluntary liquidations (CVLs) and compulsory liquidations. (2) Not seasonally adjusted. (3) Insolvency data for the current financial year are only available up to December 2008.

Departmental Manpower

Greg Clark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many staff were employed in his Department's Energy Change Group on 1 October 2008.

Patrick McFadden: On 1 October 2008, 536 full-time equivalent staff were employed in the Department's Energy Group.

Departmental Pay

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much has been spent by his Department on staff reward and recognition schemes since its inception.

Patrick McFadden: The Department has a non-pay rewards scheme where staff or teams are given incentives in the form of gifts in recognition of one-off achievement and performance. These do not exceed 50 in value. These gifts can also be given as part of awards ceremonies in recognition of team performance and achievement in the Department. Since the creation of BERR in June 2007, 59,981 has been spent on these.

Departmental Pay

Theresa May: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many bonuses were awarded to senior civil servants working at his Department and its agencies in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008; and what was spent on such bonuses in each of those years.

Patrick McFadden: The former Department of Trade and Industry (up to June 2007) and the Department for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform paid non-consolidated non-pensionable performance awards to staff in the senior civil service to reward delivery of business objectives and personal contributions to wider organisational goals. Performance related awards are part of the pay system across the whole senior civil service, and are used to reward high performance sustained throughout the year, based on a judgement of how well an individual has performed relative to their peers.
	The performance related pay scheme is designed to help drive high performance and support better public service delivery.
	
		
			   Number of SCS awarded performance bonuses  Total amount () 
			 2007 143 (1)1,126,000 
			 2008 141 (2)1,211,500 
			 (1) 7.6 per cent. of the SCS paybill (2) 8.6 per cent. of the SCS paybill 
		
	
	The senior salaries review body (SSRB) makes recommendations each year for the amount Departments may allocate to bonuses. In 2007 the median bonus was 6,000; in 2008 the median was 6,250.

Departmental Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 270-01W, on departmental public relations, on which projects the external public relations and marketing companies worked; and for what reasons the work was not undertaken by departmental staff in each case.

Patrick McFadden: This Department used companies from the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework for the following areas of work in the last three full financial years:
	
		
			  Company  Area of work  Amount spent () 
			  2007-08( 1)   
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 172,630.27 
			 GCI Employing People campaign 30,030 
			 Total  202,660.27 
			
			  2006-07( 2)   
			 Fishburn Hedges DTI Gap analysis 9,071 
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 163,642 
			 GCI Business Link 179,113 
			 Total  351,826 
			
			  2005-06   
			 Geronimo Communications Enterprising Britain 76,240 
			 GCI Small Business Service 105,786 
			 Harrison Cowley Consumer Direct 239,050 
			 Wright Communication Consumer Direct 32,694 
			 Total  453,770 
			 (1) April to June 2007 as DTI and BERR from June 2007. (2) Spend by the former DTI.  Note: These costs are inclusive of COI fees. 
		
	
	In all cases, PR agencies were employed to carry out work for which there was no available in-house resource. PR campaigns by their nature are time-limited and so it would not be cost-efficient to retain staff internally to run them. Contracting outside agencies also enables the Department to gain external specialist expertise as well as supporting the creative industries. PR contracts are placed taking account of Cabinet Office Propriety Guidance.

Departmental Recruitment

Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many new recruits his Department took on in  (a) 2005-06,  (b) 2006-07,  (c) 2007-08 and  (d) 2008-09; how many of these were taken on as (i) permanent, (ii) temporary and (iii) agency staff; and what estimate he has made of the equivalent figures for (A) 2009-10 and (B) 2010-11.

Patrick McFadden: The number of new recruits(1) that joined the Department for the financial years requested are listed in the following table.
	
		
			   Year joined 
			  Status type  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Permanent(2) 72 52 70 73 
			 Temporary(3) 48 29 41 66 
			  
			 Total 120 81 111 139 
			 (1) New recruits represent staff that have joined BERR or its predecessor DTI and excludes our executive agencies. (2) Permanent new recruits are staff employed by the Department on a permanent civil service contract. (3) Temporary new recruits are staff that have been recruited on a short term or fixed term civil service contract. 
		
	
	With respect to estimates for the years 2009-10 and 2010-11, we cannot give forecasts of future staff recruitment as this is dependant on the needs of the business which at present is fluid.
	Agency staff are new recruits that have joined the Department but are not on a civil service contract and are employed by a third party. The arrangements for employing agency staff in the Department are delegated locally to line management units. To provide such information could be done only at disproportionate cost.

Insolvency

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many pre-pack administrations there have been in  (a) the UK,  (b) England,  (c) the North East and  (d) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency in the last 12 months.

Patrick McFadden: There is insufficient information held centrally, and in a readily available format, to provide an answer to this question. This is because:
	Corporate insolvency statistics are not currently available at a sub national level.
	Statistics are not currently available on the number of pre-pack administrations.

Members: Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Chelmsford of 27 November 2008 on his constituent, Mr. Russ Harrington of Broomfield, Chelmsford.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 12 February 2009
	I responded to the hon. Member on 5 February 2009.

North East Economic Forum: Finance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what funding  (a) his Department and  (b) One North East has provided to the North East Economic Forum in the last 12 months.

Patrick McFadden: The Department has provided no direct funding to the North East Economic Forum. During the 12 months, February 2008 to January 2009, One North East provided 112,640 to the North East Economic Forum for costs associated with two major regional conferences and a number of associated events.
	The aforementioned figure includes:
	Contribution to the costs of the 2007 Annual Conference, various associated events, workshops and networking events which was invoiced in 2008.
	Contribution to the costs of the 2008 Annual Conference held on 5 December 2008, various associated events, workshops and networking events.
	Skills Event in July 2008.
	Energy Event on 14 November 2008.

Regional Development Agencies: Land

Eric Pickles: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what land holdings each regional development agency owns.

Patrick McFadden: Tables showing regional development agency land holdings, as at February 2009, will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Regional Development Agencies: Non-domestic Rates

Stephen Ladyman: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate his Department has made of the cost to regional development agencies of paying national non-domestic rates in respect of empty commercial properties in 2009-10.

Patrick McFadden: The following table shows the estimated cost to RDAs of paying national non-domestic rates in respect of empty commercial properties in 2009-10.
	
		
			  RDA  Estimated cost to RDAs of paying national non-domestic rates for empty commercial properties in 2009-10 (000) 
			 AWM 53 
			 EEDA 90 
			 EMDA 44 
			 LDA 164 
			 NWDA 112 
			 ONE 200 
			 SEEDA 325 
			 SWRDA 272 
			 YF (1)918 
			 (1) The economic regeneration of Yorkshire and Humber's main urban centres is a regional economic strategy priority. To support delivery of this priority YF has acquired strategic properties and sites. The economic downturn is lengthening the delivery of re-uses and new uses for these sites which impacts on rates and empty rates costs.

JUSTICE

Care Proceedings: Applications

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications for care proceedings were made by local authorities in England and Wales in each month of  (a) 2006,  (b) 2007 and  (c) 2008.

Bridget Prentice: The numbers of public law care and supervision applications under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 from April 2007 to December 2008 are shown in the following table. Public law cases are those brought by local authorities or an authorised person (currently only the NSPCC). Figures relate to the number of children that are subject to each application, are for England and Wales, and have been rounded to the nearest 10. Please note that 2008 figures remain subject to change, particularly the later months of the year.
	The majority of applications are made in Family Proceedings Courts (FPCs). There have been data quality issues with figures for FPCs, and a new method of data collection was introduced in April 2007 which has improved the quality and level of recording on previous years. Prior to April 2007 the collection was on a quarterly basis, meaning that monthly data are not available.
	Comparisons between short time periods (one or two months) as presented in this table should be made with caution as these figures are subject to more volatility than those covering longer time periods.

Cemeteries: Safety

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 1291-2W, on the Department for Constitutional Affairs Cemetery and Burials Advisory Group, what progress has been made in the review of the compensation culture referred to in the minutes of the Advisory Group meeting of 9 March 2006.

Bridget Prentice: Following publication of the Better Regulation Task Force's 2004 report Better Routes to Redress, the Department took forward a programme of work to tackle perceptions of a compensation culture and to improve the compensation system for those with valid claims. One strand of this work related to risk management, which was the subject of the discussion at the Burial and Cemeteries Advisory Group. A number of initiatives were undertaken by individual Departments, including the production of guidance by the Health and Safety Executive on simplifying risk assessments, and this Department facilitated workshops aimed at improving understanding of issues relating to risk, involving other Departments, insurers, local government, the voluntary sector and other sectors.

Civil Proceedings: Legal Representation

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information he has on the number of criminal cases defended by litigants-in-person.

Shahid Malik: The criminal justice system does not collect information on the number of unrepresented defendants appearing before the magistrates court, Court of Appeal and House of Lords. The number of unrepresented defendants recorded as appearing before the Crown court in 2007-08 is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage of unrepresented defendants appearing before the Crown court in 2007-08 by type of case 
			   Trials  Committals for sentence  Appeals 
			 Total 93,642 29,781 9,656 
			 Legally aided 89,381 27,254 6,834 
			 Privately represented 4,220 1,750 2,295 
			 Unrepresented 41 777 527 
			 Percentage unrepresented 0.04 2.6 5.5 
			  Note: The data presented are taken from the Crown court electronic records system which holds administrative data related to the Crown court. It does not include data from Newcastle and Bolton Crown courts.

Convictions

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in England are estimated to have an unspent conviction.

Maria Eagle: The information is not available.
	Centralised police national computer (PNC) data only go back to 2000, with incomplete data available for 1997-99 and no centralised data available from before 1997. As prison sentences of over six months remain unspent for 10 years, and prison sentences of over 30 months never become spent, the data available would not provide an accurate indicator of the total number of individuals with unspent convictions in England today.
	Moreover, data on whether convictions are spent or not are not routinely collected. They are only obtained when required for operational purposes (e.g. when a disclosure certificate is being prepared, or an individual is calculating whether they have to disclose a conviction). To produce a response to the question, even limited to the years for which there are central data, could therefore be done only at disproportionate cost.

Coroners

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of coroners' inquests likely to be held without a jury on the grounds of  (a) national security,  (b) the relationship between the United Kingdom and another country,  (c) preventing or detecting crime,  (d) protecting the safety of a witness or other person and  (e) otherwise preventing real harm to the public interest, under clause 11 of the Coroners and Justice Bill, during the first year of operation of the legislation.

Bridget Prentice: At present, less than 2 per cent. of inquests are held with a jury (in 2007, 540 out of 30,841, or 1.75 per cent.), and we anticipate that only a very small number of those cases, perhaps one or two each year, will be affected by clause 11 of the Coroners and Justice Bill. It is not possible to speculate which limbs of the definition these one or two cases will fall under.

Coroners

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions an inquest has been closed without a recorded verdict in each of the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: An inquest may be adjourned under section 16 of the Coroners Act 1988 pending the outcome of criminal proceedings for a homicide offence relating to the death. An inquest may be adjourned under section 17A of the 1988 Act where there is a judicial public inquiry into the death and the Lord Chancellor considers that the cause of death will be adequately investigated by the inquiry. In section 16 cases, the coroner will only resume the inquest after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings if in his opinion there is sufficient reason to do so. In section 17A cases, the coroner will only resume the inquest after the public inquiry if in his option there is exceptional reason to do so.
	The number of inquests which were adjourned and not resumed by coroners in England and Wales prior to a verdict being reached, in each year between 2003 and 2007, is provided in the following table:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2003 908 
			 2004 943 
			 2005 1,008 
			 2006 956 
			 2007 926 
		
	
	Statistics for 2008 are not yet available, but are due to be published on the Ministry of Justice website in May in the National Statistics bulletin: Statistics on deaths reported to coroners, England and Wales.

Cremation: Standards

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 1291-12W on Department for Constitutional Affairs Cemetery and Burials Advisory Group, and the minutes of the meeting of the Advisory Board on 25 February 2008, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of supply of  (a) coffins,  (b) crematorium services and  (c) funeral services in the event of pandemic influenza.

Bridget Prentice: Following the Advisory Group meeting on 25 February 2008, the Home Office published 'Planning for a Possible Influenza Pandemic: A Framework for Planners Preparing to Manage Deaths' on 22 May. This provides guidance for local planners on providing cremation and funeral services in these circumstances. We have since been working with representatives of the funeral industry and coffin manufacturers to explore existing supply arrangements and options to increase capacity if necessary. This work continues.

Debt Collection

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many homes have been subject to forced entry by bailiffs under the provisions of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 in each year since those provisions were implemented.

Bridget Prentice: Since the introduction of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 the power to force entry has been used to execute warrants of arrest by magistrates court civilian enforcement officers (CEOs) on 386 occasions and to execute warrants of distress by private bailiffs contracted to Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) on two occasions. HMCS does not have a breakdown for each of the individual years available.

Debt Collection

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) of 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 870W, on debt collection: parking offences, 
	(1)  whether his Department plans to bring forward proposals to amend the law relating to bailiffs to extend rights to bailiffs to have a forced power of entry in relation to unpaid parking fines;
	(2)  when he expects the new powers of forced entry for bailiffs under the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 to be  (a) commenced and  (b) implemented.

Bridget Prentice: The enforcement provisions in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 are far reaching reforms. The provisions have recently undergone a comprehensive reassessment by Ministers to ensure that they remain appropriate even under this difficult financial climate. This assessment has now concluded and a statement will be made shortly.

Debt Collection

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will place in the Library a copy of each individual non-confidential response to his Department's consultation paper on the regulation of enforcement agents.

Bridget Prentice: A copy of each individual non-confidential response to the Department's consultation paper on regulation of enforcement agents has already been placed in the Library.

Debt Collection

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether his Department's joint review with the Department for Communities and Local Government on the enforcement of council tax payments will include in its remit the enforcement powers of bailiffs.

Bridget Prentice: The Ministry of Justice has completed an extensive review on the powers of bailiffs which culminated in the enforcement provisions in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. The Ministry of Justice is working with the Department of Communities and Local Government to look at new ways to collect and enforce council tax, in particular by allowing councils to transfer council tax debts from magistrates to county courts. Any necessary legislation will be introduced as parliamentary time allows.

Debts: Court Orders

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) third party debt,  (b) interim charging and  (c) final charging orders were made by courts in each of the last five years.

Bridget Prentice: The following table shows the numbers of interim and final third party debt orders and charging orders made in the county courts of England and Wales in each of the last five years.
	
		
			  Number of interim and final third party debt orders( 1)  and charging orders( 2)  made in the county courts of England and Wales 200408( 3) 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008( 3) 
			 Interim third party debt orders 6,217 6,551 6,428 6,364 7,349 
			 Final third party debt orders 1,836 1,826 1,828 1,813 2,038 
			 Interim charging orders 45,847 66,451 92,366 130,463 164,185 
			 Final charging orders 33,235 49,218 67,090 97,026 135,663 
			 (1) Third party debt orders secure payment by freezing and then seizing money owed or payable by a third party to a debtor. (2) Charging orders obtain security for the payment against a property owned by the debtor. (3) Figures for 2008 are provisional.

Departmental Translation Services

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many language translators are employed in each of his Department's executive agencies; and what the cost of translating services provided by such people was in the latest period for which information is available.

Jack Straw: Her Majesty's Courts Service does employ one translator within the Welsh Language Unit. Where other services are required, they are secured as and when required. Individuals providing those services are not directly employed by the MOJ.
	Translator costs for HMCS and National Offender Management Service (excluding HMPS and probation service) are detailed as follows.
	
		
			  Financial year 2007-08   
			 HMCS 200,000 
			 NOMS HQ 8,906 
		
	
	Tribunals are unable to differentiate between the cost of translators and interpreters. The total cost of those services in 2007-08 was 6,058,000.
	Information for Her Majesty's Prison Service and the probation service is not held centrally and is available only at disproportionate cost.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  which local authority electoral registration departments  (a) do and  (b) do not use bar coding on their electoral registration forms;
	(2)  how many local authorities have a  (a) Plain English Campaign award and  (b) Charter Mark certificate for their electoral registration forms.

Michael Wills: A prescribed canvass form is available to all local authorities for the purpose of the annual canvass. The MOJ has not applied for this form to be awarded the Plain English Campaign award but will consider doing so. The design of rolling registration forms is a matter for electoral registration officers.
	Charter Mark is awarded to organisations who successfully pass an accreditation process but there is no certification process for registration forms. Local authorities with Charter Mark status may endorse the Charter Mark emblem on any of their publications; it is not known how many print it on their canvass forms.
	Information on which local authorities use bar coding on their registration forms is not collected centrally and to do so now would result in disproportionate costs, as we would need to contact every local authority.

Electoral Register

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the demographic profile of those people who are most likely not to be registered to vote; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: As the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham (Bridget Prentice) explained in answer to a similar question from my hon. Friend on 26 June 2008,  Official Report, column 474W, the Government have not commissioned or evaluated any specific research on the demographic profile of people who are most likely not to be registered to vote. However, the Government do utilise some existing research concerning the attitudes and motivations of the electorate, as commissioned by the then Department of Constitutional Affairs in 2005, as a basis for further work towards identifying an evidence base for policy development and service targets in the electoral field.
	The Electoral Commission found in their report, 'Understanding Electoral Registration', published in September 2005, that the most likely electors not to be registered to vote included young people, those residing in private rented accommodation and those belonging to certain minority ethnic groups.
	Information arising out of the evidence base and the Electoral Commission's report were used to mount a registration campaign in London for 18 to 24-year-olds and to inform work on registration, which fed into various measures in the Electoral Administration Act 2006.

Electoral Register: Telephone Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what rules govern registration to vote by telephone; and whether he plans to change these rules;
	(2)  which local authorities use telephone registration to register electors.

Michael Wills: Sections 10 and 10A of the Representation of the People Act 1983, in combination with regulations made under that Act, require an application to be added to the electoral register to be made in writing and signed by the applicant. This applies whether the application is made in response to the annual canvass or at any other time. The effect is that a fresh application for registration cannot be made by telephone.
	By virtue of section 10A(5)(a) of the Representation of the People Act 1983, once a person is registered, he is entitled to remain on the register until such time as the registration officer is unable to satisfy himself that the person is resident at the addresseither because the annual canvass form was not returned or because insufficient information was obtained as to whether the elector was resident at the address at the conclusion of the canvass. There is nothing in this provision to prevent a registration officer from satisfying himself that a person is still resident at the address on the basis of information provided by telephone by the person. As a result, it is possible for registration officers to accept telephone confirmation of a person's continued entitlement to registration and, in such a case, the person's entry could remain in the register.
	There are no current plans to change these rules.
	Maintaining the registers is the responsibility of local electoral registration officers and no central record is kept regarding how many registration officers accept telephone confirmation of continued entitlement to registration.

Electronic Commerce: EC Law

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1171W, on homophobia, what compliance issues with the EU e-commerce Directive remain to be resolved.

Jack Straw: The E-commerce Directive requires us to apply the offence to domestically established electronic service providers when they provide their services in other European economic area states.
	In order to do this, we intend to make regulations under the European Communities Act 1972. But, as the offence relating to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation carries a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment, we need powers to create penalties greater than those permitted by section 2(2) of that Act. Clause 123 of the Coroners and Justice Bill will amend the 1972 Act to allow us to do this.

HM Courts Service: Pay

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what financial settlement was reached with the former Chief Executive of HM Courts Service at the end of his tenure.

Jack Straw: Details of the financial settlement reached with the former chief executive, HM Courts Service is available in the public domain as detailed in the Ministry of Justice's resource account 2007-08.
	Sir Ron De Witt left the Department on 14 December 2007. He received a lump sum compensation payment upon the date of his departure of 405,000-410,000. This included a special severance payment of 130,000-135,000.

Libra Project

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much the Libra project  (a) has cost to date and  (b) is expected to have cost on completion; and what implementation milestones have been set for the project.

Bridget Prentice: Rollout of the Libra application is now complete in all magistrates' courts. The outturn cost of the project is 444 million. A Welsh version of the application is scheduled to be available in September 2009.

Magistrates' Courts

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times magistrates courts hearings in each district have had to be postponed because the prosecution case paperwork was incomplete or misdirected in the last 12 months.

Bridget Prentice: The Ministry of Justice does not hold information centrally concerning how many times hearings in each district have been postponed due to prosecution casework being incomplete or misdirected and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	However, figures for the prosecution's administrative lack of readiness in relation to vacated and ineffective trials are shown in the following table by Local Criminal Justice Board area. The data are gathered as part of the joint ineffective and vacated trial monitoring exercise and rely on the accurate recording of reasons that may, over time, be subject to amendment.
	Nationally, the data for January to December 2008 show that 4.3 per cent. of all vacated trials were vacated because of reasons associated to the prosecution's administrative lack of readiness. In relation to ineffective trials, the reasons associated to the prosecution's lack of readiness led to 1.7 per cent. of all trials being ineffective.
	Despite these relatively low figures, the Crown Prosecution Service has introduced a number of significant changes to its working practices to improve the effectiveness of its work in the magistrates' courts. These are under an initiative known as the 'Optimum Business Model' (OBM). The OBM comprises nine recommendations, the key element being the introduction of proactive case progression teams that ensure cases are ready in advance of the court hearing. OBM has focused on eliminating waste and duplication, streamlining processes and improving timeliness. It has been implemented across 40 of the 42 Crown Prosecution Service areas to date and considerable benefits have been gained not least in the improved timeliness of the prosecution review of cases, in better rates of readiness for trial and responses to correspondence. A system has been introduced to record numbers of adjournments and the reasons why they occurred which is currently under review. Early indications show a reduction of adjournments overall in line with the introduction of criminal justice simple speedy summary (CJSSS) processes and the contribution of OBM.
	
		
			  Details of Prosecution-related administrative lack of readiness by area January-December 2008covering vacated and ineffective trials in magistrates courts 
			   Vacated trials  Ineffective trials 
			  Local criminal justice board area  Prosecution not ready: prosecution not ready for trial, further preparation needed  Total vacated trials  Percentage of total vacated trials vacated because prosecution not ready for trial, further preparation needed  Prosecution not ready: served late notice of additional evidence on defence  Prosecution not ready: Other  Total prosecution-related reasons relating to administrative readiness  Total trials (including ineffective trials)  Percentage of total trials ineffective because of prosecution reasons related to administrative readine s s 
			 Avon and Somerset 32 737 4.3 11 20 31 2,751 1.1 
			 Bedfordshire 32 851 3.8 7 17 24 2,224 1.1 
			 Cambridgeshire 4 250 1.6 1 5 6 1,597 0.4 
			 Cheshire 21 735 2.9 7 20 27 3,136 0.9 
			 Cleveland 27 873 3.1 11 25 36 2,668 1.3 
			 Cumbria 26 894 2.9 4 35 39 1,742 2.2 
			 Derbyshire 41 1,073 3.8 22 51 73 4,261 1.7 
			 Devon and Cornwall 31 826 3.8 14 23 37 2,615 1.4 
			 Dorset 50 719 7.0 3 30 33 2,277 1.4 
			 Durham 50 951 5.3 13 28 41 1,516 2.7 
			 Dyfed Powys 8 468 1.7 1 11 12 992 1.2 
			 Essex 85 1,187 7.2 26 104 130 4,540 2.9 
			 Gloucestershire 4 429 0.9 3 21 24 1,594 1.5 
			 Greater London 412 6,151 6.7 126 546 672 32,273 2.1 
			 Greater Manchester 96 2,066 4.6 66 144 210 10,658 2.0 
			 Gwent 11 674 1.6 8 18 26 1,847 1.4 
			 Hampshire and IoW 69 2,204 3.1 15 50 65 5,462 1.2 
			 Hertfordshire 15 1,560 1.0 11 51 62 4,217 1.5 
			 Humberside 27 631 4.3 5 27 32 2,365 1.4 
			 Kent 83 1,313 6.3 14 56 70 5,123 1.4 
			 Lancashire 59 1,951 3.0 25 60 85 6,466 1.3 
			 Leicestershire 13 392 3.3 14 30 44 3,386 1.3 
			 Lincolnshire 18 783 2.3 6 22 28 1,673 1.7 
			 Merseyside 59 1,385 4.3 25 57 82 5,800 1.4 
			 Norfolk 38 714 5.3 9 15 24 1,785 1.3 
			 North Wales 25 900 2.8 13 25 38 2,194 1.7 
			 North Yorkshire 35 798 4.4 8 17 25 1,632 1.5 
			 Northamptonshire 15 192 7.8 4 8 12 1,843 0.7 
			 Northumbria 149 2,123 7.0 27 98 125 7,299 1.7 
			 Nottinghamshire 94 1,482 6.3 20 80 100 4,356 2.3 
			 South Wales 96 1,674 5.7 27 76 103 4,486 2.3 
			 South Yorkshire 46 1,622 2.8 21 46 67 4,461 1.5 
			 Staffordshire 31 812 3.8 15 44 59 3,588 1.6 
			 Suffolk 32 603 5.3 5 8 13 915 1.4 
			 Surrey 18 559 3.2 2 28 30 2,661 1.1 
			 Sussex 70 1,521 4.6 5 30 35 4,282 0.8 
			 Thames Valley 26 1,357 1.9 20 70 90 6,264 1.4 
			 Warwickshire 5 133 3.8 1 2 3 493 0.6 
			 West Mercia 32 996 3.2 13 42 55 4,093 1.3 
			 West Midlands 66 3,030 2.2 62 173 235 13,225 1.8 
			 West Yorkshire 62 1,370 4.5 23 87 110 7,105 1.5 
			 Wiltshire 27 296 9.1 3 24 27 1,637 1.6 
			 England and Wales 2,140 49,285 4.3 716 2,324 3,040 183,502 1.7

National Offender Management Service: Redundancy

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the total monetary value of all redundancy packages given to regional offender managers is.

Jack Straw: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) appointed regional offender managers (ROMs) as commissioners of services. As a result of structural changes in NOMS, Directors of Offender Managers have now been appointed (due to be announced imminently). The ROMs will remain in post until 31 March 2009. The role will then end as the new structure comes into place. The expectation is that there will be no redundancies as a result of this change as our objective is to redeploy the ROMs into other roles.

Offenders: Suffolk

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what types of offences were committed by people on bail in Suffolk in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: Court proceedings data held by the Ministry of Justice do not identify whether persons were on bail at the time of committing an offence.

Office of the Public Guardian: Complaints

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many complaints about the Office of the Public Guardian were received in each month of the last three years.

Bridget Prentice: The number of complaints received by the Office of the Public Guardian each month for the last three years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   2006  2007  2008 
			 January 42 67 147 
			 February 85 69 138 
			 March 40 72 136 
			 April 33 43 244 
			 May 67 65 227 
			 June 45 54 225 
			 July 70 48 301 
			 August 55 57 253 
			 September 52 47 208 
			 October 59 67 230 
			 November 72 142 184 
			 December 54 101 123

Prison Sentences

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection have been set a tariff of  (a) less than 12 months,  (b) between 12 months and two years and  (c) over two years;
	(2)  how many prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection who have served sentences longer than their tariff have served  (a) fewer than six months,  (b) between six months and one year and  (c) more than one year over their tariff.

Maria Eagle: The number of prisoners in custody on 12 February 2009 serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection broken down by length of tariff is as follows:
	
		
			   Number of prisoners 
			 Awaiting confirmation of tariff 329 
			 Tariff less than 12 months 253 
			 Tariff 12 months to two years 1,122 
			 Tariff over two years 3,355 
			 Total 5,059 
		
	
	The number of prisoners in custody serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection longer than their tariff on 12 February 2009 was 1,487. This is broken down as follows:
	
		
			   Number of prisoners 
			 Past tariff by fewer than six months 525 
			 Past tariff six to 12 months 394 
			 Past tariff 12 months or more 568 
			 Total 1,487 
		
	
	These figures are taken from the National Offender Management Service's records. As with any large scale recording system, it is subject to possible errors arising from either data entry or processing.
	The tariff is the minimum period which an indeterminate sentenced prisoner must serve for punishment and deterrence. It is for the independent Parole Board to determine whether to direct the release of an indeterminate sentenced prisoner once his tariff has expired, based on all relevant information as to the risk of harm which the prisoner presents.

Prison Sentences

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners are serving  (a) life sentences and  (b) other indeterminate sentences.

Maria Eagle: At the end of December 2008 there were 4,963 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection in all prison establishments in England and Wales, and 7,031 serving life sentences.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisoners Release

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners have been released early in error in the last five years; for what offences they were serving sentences; what the length of the original sentence was in each case; how long each had left to serve on release; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: It is a mandatory requirement that prisons check the correctness of the calculation of a prisoner's release date 14 days and two days before release. At this point, a check is also made to ensure that there is no other reason a prisoner should be detained in custody, such as, if they are remanded to custody on further charges or held on immigration matters. Additionally, re-calculations and checks are also carried out during the course of the sentence should a prisoner be transferred from one establishment to another. Prison Service Order 6650 provides details of the sentence calculation checks required.
	The number of known releases in error are reported to the national operations unit in the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) by prison establishments. The number of releases reported is as follows:
	
		
			   Number of releases in error (RIEs) reported  Total number of prisoner discharges  Percentage of discharges that are RIEs 
			 2005 32 84,500 0.04 
			 2006 36 78,535 0.05 
			 2007 36 77,146 0.05 
			 2008 57 n/a  
			 n/a = Not available. 
		
	
	Information on how early the release was in each case and the details of the offences are not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The number of releases in error remains very small as a percentage of total discharges (less than 0.05 per cent. in 2007, the last year for which discharge figures are currently available) and must be viewed in the context of increased prisoner movement to accommodate the rising population.

Prisoners: Racial Harassment

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many incidents classified as racially-motivated were reported by prisoners in each of the last five years.

Jack Straw: The following table presents the number of incidents of alleged racism reported by prisoners. This is broken down into those about the behaviour of other prisoners and those concerning service provision or the actions of members of staff. While all reports are investigated few consist of allegations of misconduct by staff and all such matters are subject to disciplinary investigation under the code of conduct and discipline.
	'Race Review 2008', recently published by the National Offender Management Service, which is available in the Library of the House, sets out the current assessment of race equality in the Prison Service, including the effectiveness of these systems and plans for work further to improve them.
	
		
			   Total  Prisoner behaviour  Services/actions of staff 
			 2004-05 5,641 2,268 3,373 
			 2005-06 6,912 2,719 4,193 
			 2006-07 7,569 2,993 4,576 
			 2007-08 8,051 2,758 5,293 
			 2008-09(1) 6,862 2,186 4.676 
			 (1) Figures for year up to 31 December 2008

Prisoners: Suicide

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of suicide in prisons;
	(2)  how many prisoners died in HM Prison Winchester in each of the last five years; and how many of those deaths were suicides;
	(3)  how many prisoners died in prisons in England and Wales in each of the last five years; and how many of those deaths were suicides.

Shahid Malik: The National Offender Management Service has a broad, integrated and evidence-based prisoner suicide prevention strategy that seeks to reduce the distress of all those in prison. This encompasses a wide spectrum of prison and Department of Health work around such issues as mental health, substance misuse and resettlement. Any prisoner identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm is cared for using the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) procedures. ACCT is the prisoner-centred flexible care-planning system introduced across the prisons estate in partnership with the Department of Health during 2005 to 2007 to replace the old F2052SH system.
	Any death in custody is a tragic event. The Government are committed to learning from such events and reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in state custody. We are implementing many of the recommendations of Robert Fulton's Review of the Forum for Preventing Deaths in Custody. From April 2009, a new three tier Ministerial Council on Deaths in Custody will replace the existing forum and the Ministerial Roundtable on Suicide.
	The numbers of deaths at HMP Winchester in the last five calendar years, broken down by type, are detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  Type of death  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009( 1) 
			 Natural causes 3 1 1 3  1 
			 Other non-natural   
			 Self-inflicted  1   3 1 
			 (1 )Up to and including 24 February. 
		
	
	The numbers of deaths in English and Welsh prisons in the last five calendar years, broken down by type, are detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  Type of death  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009( 1) 
			 Homicide 2 3  2 3  
			 Natural causes 102 88 83 92 97 19 
			 Other non-natural 9 5 3  2 1 
			 Self-inflicted 95 78 67 92 61 14 
			 Unclassified 1  
			 (1 )Up to and including 24 February.

Prisons: Drugs

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many visitors to prisons were found to be in possession of illegal drugs in 2007-08; how many such visitors were referred to the police; and what steps were taken in respect of those not referred to the police.

David Hanson: The data are not available in the format requested.
	It is the National Offender Management Service's policy for all prison visitors found in possession of illicit drugs to be referred to the police. As a result of which in 2007-08 the police made 424 arrests of prison visitors the majority of which would have been for drug offences.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.

Protection of Badgers Act 1992

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the length is of each custodial sentence, other than suspended sentences, handed down under the provisions of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 since the Act came into force; and when each such sentence was handed down;
	(2)  how much has been received in fines imposed under the provisions of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 in each year since its entry into force; and how the receipts have been allocated;
	(3)  how many persons prosecuted under the provisions of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 received custodial sentences, other than suspended sentences, in  (a) each year since 2006 and  (b) 2009 to date.

David Hanson: The available information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Sentences imposed for offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 19921993 to 2007 
			1993  1994  1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001 
			  Fines imposed   
			 Cruelty to badgers Average fine amount () 355 272 465 266 .516 478  283 213 
			  Number of offenders fined 14 12 13 6 3 4  3 4 
			  Sum of fines imposed () 4,970 3,264 6,045 1,596 1,548 1,912  849 852 
			
			 Not giving up dog for destruction(1) Average fine amount () 51 167 240 200 183 51 41 51 49 
			  Number of offenders fined 9 3 5 2 3 6 14 11 27 
			  Sum of fines imposed () 459 501 1,200 400 549 306 574 561 1,323 
			
			  Lengths of immediate custodial sentences   
			 All offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 Up to 3 months 1 5   1  2   
			  Include 3 up to 6 months 1 1 3 5 9  2   
			  Total custodial sentences 2 6 3 5 10  4   
		
	
	
		
			2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			  Fines imposed
			 Cruelty to badgers Average fine amount () 300 1,466 250 2,000   
			  Number of offenders fined 1 3 2 1   
			  Sum of fines imposed () 300 4,398 500 2,000   
			 
			 Not giving up dog for destruction(1) Average fine amount () 47 51 51 64 69 78 
			  Number of offenders fined 21 10 7 8 4 4 
			  Sum of fines imposed () 987 510 357 512 276 312 
			 
			  Lengths of immediate custodial sentences
			 All offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 Up to 3 months 3  1
			  Include 3 up to 6 months8 1 1 
			  Total custodial sentences 3  1 8 1 1 
			  Notes: 1. The offence of 'Failing to give up a dog for destruction having custody of a dog whilst disqualified' is an offence under the Badger Act (1992) and the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991). It has been included in these figures, although it is not possible to tell which Act was intended when sentencing. 2. The statistics are presented on the principal offence basis, where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed, where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe. 3. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system  Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	Data on the collection of fines for specific offences are not held, therefore the answer given shows the sum of all fines imposed for offences relating to the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, the actual amount collected is not known. As with all collected fines the receipts are paid into the Consolidated Fund at HM Treasury and are then allocated according to Government spending priorities as part of the spending review process.
	Statistics for 2008 will not be available until Sentencing Statistics 2008 is published in late 2009.

Repossession Orders

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many court orders for home repossession have been issued in Eastbourne constituency in each month of the last two years.

Bridget Prentice: Figures for Eastbourne parliamentary constituency are not available. However, the following table shows the number of mortgage and landlord possession actions in Eastbourne county court.
	The civil procedure rules state that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. However, Eastbourne county court may cover areas other than the Eastbourne constituency. Therefore not all possession actions at this court necessarily relate to Eastbourne constituency.
	Court level statistics on mortgage and landlord repossession actions from 1987 to 2008 are available on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/mortgatelandlordpossession.htm.
	These figures do not indicate how many homes have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order being made, while not all court orders result in repossession.
	
		
			  Number of mortgage( 1)  and landlord( 2, 3)  possession actions in Eastbourne county court by each month, 2007 to 2008( 4) 
			   Mortgage possession  Landlord possession 
			   Eastbourne  HMCS South East  Eastbourne  HMCS South East 
			   Claims issued  Orders made( 5, 6, 7)  Claims issued  Orders made( 5, 6, 7)  Claims issued  Orders made( 5, 6, 7)  Claims issued  Orders made( 5, 6, 7) 
			 January 2007 32  2,267 1,840 36  2,273 2,056 
			 February 2007 25  2,037 1,305 31  2,187 1,344 
			 March 2007 43  2,254 1,505 31  2,138 1,607 
			 April 2007 21  1,851 1,411 16  1,806 1,406 
			 May 2007 53  2,297 1,396 50  2,182 1,399 
			 June 2007 31  2,211 1,530 45  2,287 1,545 
			 July 2007 33  2,399 1,522 32  2,199 1,585 
			 August 2007 40  2,174 1,457 37  2,416 1,596 
			 September 2007 20  1,898 1,479 23  2,055 1,642 
			 October 2007 25  2,193 1,747 35  2,447 1,795 
			 November 2007 36  2,308 1,507 39  2,340 1,789 
			 December 2007 17  1,816 1,170 20  1,760 1,421 
			 January 2008 33  2,551 1,837 41  2,616 1,973 
			 February 2008 49  2,617 1,575 38  2,432 1,678 
			 March 2008 25  2,316 1,639 24  2,162 1,649 
			 April 2008 42  2,553 1,955 24  2,311 1,981 
			 May 2008 41  2,318 1,756 15  2,056 1,593 
			 June 2008 27  2,340 1,869 27  2,281 1,733 
			 July 2008 40  2,480 1,862 26  2,543 1,928 
			 August 2008 44  2,348 1,764 23  2,246 1,659 
			 September 2008 42  2,206 1,892 26  2,327 1,843 
			 October 2008 32  2,187 1,818 25  2,582 1,940 
			 November 2008 (8)26  (8)1,626 1,623 18  2,095 1,709 
			 December 2008 (8)11  (8)766 1,414 17  1,913 1,536 
			 (1) Includes all types of mortgage lenders. (2 )Includes all types of landlord whether social or private. (3 )Landlord actions include those made under both standard and accelerated procedures. Landlord actions via the accelerated procedure enables the orders to be made solely on the basis of written evidence for shorthold tenancies, when the fixed period of tenancy has come to an end. (4 )Figures for the latest month are provisional. (5 )The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. (6 )Includes outright and suspended orders, the latter being where the court grants the claimant possession but suspends the operation of the order. Provided the defendant complies with the terms of suspension, which usually require the defendant to pay the current mortgage or rent instalments plus some of the accrued arrears, the possession order cannot be enforced. (7 )The rollout of the Possession Claim On-Line (PCOL) system in late 2006 has affected the availability of court-level data. Only those county courts which do not have direct on site access to PCOL were affected. Consequently, upward adjustments have been applied which estimate the effects of the missing data. The figures for Eastbourne court are adjusted at Her Majesty Courts Service (HMCS,) regional level, which for Eastbourne is the south east. (8 )The Mortgage Pre Action Protocol for possession claims relating to mortgage or home purchase arrears was introduced in November 2008. In the short term, it has led to substantial fall in the number of new possession claims. More details are available in the recent repossession action bulletin available on Ministry of Justice website.  Source:  Ministry of Justice

Repossession Orders: Wandsworth

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many court orders have been issued for the repossession of homes in Putney, Roehampton and Southfields in each of the last 10 years.

Bridget Prentice: Figures for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields constituency are not available. However, statistics on mortgage and landlord possession orders for London county courts (1987 to 2008) are available via the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/stats-landlord-mortgage-historic-20-02-09.xls
	These include figures for Wandsworth county court, which is nearest to Putney, Roehampton and Southfields constituency.
	The civil procedure rules state that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. However, geographical boundaries of county courts may not necessarily be consistent with other administrative or constituency boundaries. Repossession orders made at Wandsworth county court may therefore relate to properties in other constituencies besides Putney, Roehampton and Southfields.
	These figures do not indicate how many homes have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order being made, while not all court orders result in repossession.

Residence Orders

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many applications for residence orders were made during  (a) 2006 and  (b) 2007.

Bridget Prentice: The number of applications for residence orders made during 2006 and 2007 are given in the following table. There have been data quality issues with figures for Family Proceedings Courts (FPCs), and a new method of data collection was introduced in April 2007 which has improved the quality and level of recording on previous years. Comparisons between 2006 and 2007 should therefore be made with caution in this jurisdiction.
	
		
			  Number of Section 8 residence applications made, by whether private or public law and tier of court, 2006 and 2007: England and Wales 
			   Family Proceedings Courts( 1)  County Courts( 2)  High Courts  Total 
			  2006 
			 Public Law 330 288 37 655 
			 Private Law 4,300 28,802 313 33,415 
			  2007 
			 Public Law 250 291 88 629 
			 Private Law 5,100 29,514 210 34,824 
			 (1) There have been data quality issues with figures for FPCs, and a new method of data collection was introduced in April 2007 which has improved the quality and level of recording on previous years. Pre April 2007, there are weighted estimates based on data from a subset of courts. To reflect data uncertainty FPC figures have been rounded. (2) Research undertaken on behalf of Ministry of Justice has identified that some cases that have transferred from the Family Proceedings Court to the County Court have been incorrectly recorded as new applications in the County Court, thus inflating the reported number of new applications through double counting (see Masson et al 2008)  Notes: Figures relate to the number of children subject to each application.  Source: HMCS FamilyMan system and manual returns

Television: Licensing

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were fined for television licence evasion in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the average fine was.

Maria Eagle: The requested information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of persons fined and average fine amount for offences relating to TV licence evasion( 1) , 2007 
			   Number/ 
			 Number of persons fined 120,114 
			 Average fine amount () 137 
			 (1) The TV licensing provisions of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 were replaced by new provisions in the Communications Act 2003 which came into effect on 1 April 2004.  Notes: 1. These are the numbers fined against for all offences under the Wireless Telegraphy Act which mainly but not exclusively covers TV licensing offences. 2. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system  Source: OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice.

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby of 20 October 2008,  Official Report, column 53W, on the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, if he will place a copy of the report of the recently completed scoping exercise in the Library.

Bridget Prentice: The scoping exercise involved a series of meetings with stakeholders to discuss implementation. The enforcement provisions in the Tribunals, Court and Enforcement Act 2007 are far reaching reforms. The provisions have recently undergone a comprehensive reassessment by Ministers to ensure that they remain appropriate even under this difficult financial climate. This assessment has now concluded and a statement will be made shortly.

TRANSPORT

Departmental Cars

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles each Minister in his Department has travelled in a ministerial car in each of the last five years; how many such journeys each Minister made in each of those years; and what estimate has been made of the amount of resultant carbon dioxide emissions in each year.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Driving Standards Agency: Alcoholic Drinks

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1385W, on the Driving Standards Agency: alcoholic drinks, for what reason public money was used to purchase alcohol for staff attending the operations conference in September 2008.

Jim Fitzpatrick: This annual conference gathered together senior management staff from locations across Great Britain to discuss operational issues affecting the Agency. It involved an overnight stay and a dinner was part of the event which allowed staff, who seldom meet together as a group, to continue discussions on issues of the day in a less formal setting. It was considered reasonable to offer limited drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) as part of that meal. The normal subsistence allowance was not paid to attendees.

Driving Standards Agency: Public Relations

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what payments the Driving Standards Agency has made to  (a) (i) management and (ii) public affairs and relations,  (b) advertising agencies and  (c) other external consultancy organisations in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Transport, to the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) on 15 December 2008,  Official Report, columns 386-88W.

Driving: Licensing

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reasons were for the increase in the driving licence application fee to 50 in 2008.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The increase in the first provisional driving licence fee from 45 to 50 in 2008 was implemented to ensure that the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency's driver and vehicle registration costs continue to be covered by the fees levied. At the same time there was a similar increase in the vehicle first registration fee from 50 to 55. These are necessary for the agency to comply with its statutory duties as an executive agency and trading fund.

Driving: Licensing

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions of driving licence holders there have been for failure to notify a change of address in the last year for which information is available.

Jim Fitzpatrick: By law, a driver licence holder is required to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of any changes to their personal details such as name and/or address. Failure to do so could result in prosecution and a fine of up to 1,000.
	Any action to enforce a fine is brought by the police and not DVLA. DVLA holds no figures on the number of prosecutions brought by the police.

Driving: Licensing

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has estimated the proportion of driving licence addresses which are inaccurate.

Jim Fitzpatrick: An accurate record is defined as one where the registered keeper of the vehicle or the driving licence holder can be traced from the details contained on the database.
	The latest estimate of the accuracy of the vehicles record showed it was 96.9 per cent. accurate. This equates to 1,052,662 records that are inaccurate.
	The latest estimate of the accuracy of the drivers record showed it was 81.5 per cent. accurate. This equates to 7,906,275 records that are inaccurate.
	The responsibility for notifying the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) of a change of address lies with the vehicle keeper or licence holder. So far as vehicle records are concerned, there is an annual requirement to tax the vehicle and this transaction is a regular prompt to owners to fulfil the requirement to notify change of address. There is no equivalent annual driver transaction that prompts a notification.
	DVLA works hard to maintain accuracy. The task is to encourage and support drivers and vehicle keepers to meet their obligations, and to that end, a dedicated accuracy improvement team has been established. Current initiatives in hand include checks of credit reference agency databases for current addresses and working with others in the cross government Tell Us Once initiative to obtain early notification of the death of a licence holder.

Electric Vehicles

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of battery-powered motor vehicles purchased in the UK in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of battery-powered vehicles registered in each of the last five years is set out in the following table. These data include all mechanically-powered vehicles which are required to be registered under the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (VERA), such as passenger cars and quadricycles such as the G-Wizz, but excludes invalid carriages or mobility scooters. It includes vehicles whose propulsion type is listed as 'electricity' (where the vehicle is powered solely by electricity supplied from an on-board battery) and excludes hybrid vehicles and electric fuel cell vehicles.
	
		
			   Number of new registrations 
			 2004 569 
			 2005 742 
			 2006 922 
			 2007 1,374 
			 2008 1,322 
			 Total 4,929

Electric Vehicles

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage the use of battery-powered motor vehicles; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government already provide generous support for motorists using Electric Vehicles (EVs) through the tax system (e.g. exemptions from vehicle excise duty and fuel duty). Over 100 million has been provided into research, development and demonstration of EVs and other low carbon vehicles. In addition, on 15 January 2009, the Secretary of State for Transport announced funding worth 250 million to build a system of consumer incentives to build the market for ultra-low emission vehicles, including EVs.

First Capital Connect: Finance

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much public subsidy was paid to  (a) First Capital Connect and  (b) the predecessor franchisee WAGN in each year since 2000; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: This information is published annually by the Office of Rail Regulation in National Rail Trends. Copies are available in the Library of the House and on the Office of Rail Regulation's website at:
	www.rail-reg.gov.uk

Heathrow Airport: Noise

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of individuals  (a) residing within the area of a 50 decibel contour of Heathrow Airport on the latest date for which figures are available and  (b) likely to be residing within the area of a 50 decibel contour of the airport in 2020.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Although 54 dBA aircraft noise contours are sometimes produced as a sensitivity analysis, aircraft modelling below such levels is generally considered to be unlikely to generate accurate and reliable results.
	In the case of night time contours where air traffic levels are lower, the corresponding noise contours are smaller, such that a 50 dBA L night contour is much closer to the airport and can therefore be estimated with reasonable precision.
	Under the European Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/EC, member states are required to produce strategic noise maps every five years for major airports.
	The directive requires that maps should represent annual average noise values and requires the use of four different parameters including contoursin five dB stepsfor 50 to 70 dBA L night (23.00-07.00).
	Population figures for L night in respect of Heathrow were produced in 2007, based on 2006 movements. The population within the 50-55 dBA band was 145,300.
	Further information is contained in ERCD Report 0706 London Heathrow Airport Strategic Noise Maps 2006 available on Civil Aviation Authority's website at:
	http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/ERCD0706.pdf

Heavy Goods Vehicles

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of miles heavy goods vehicles registered in  (a) the United Kingdom and  (b) overseas travelled on roads in the UK in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department's Continuing Survey of Road Goods Transport (CSRGT) provides an estimate of the distance travelled by British registered HGVs. The information is provided in the following table extracted from table 1.1 in Road Freight Statistics 2007:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/freight/goodsbyroad/roadfreightstatistics2007
	
		
			  Distanced travelled by GB registered HGVs1997 to 2007 
			   Billion Vehicle kms 
			 1997 23.1 
			 1998 23.3 
			 1999 23.1 
			 2000 23.0 
			 2001 22.2 
			 2002 22.2 
			 2003 22.2 
			 2004 22.3 
			 2005 22.2 
			 2006 22.3 
			 2007 22.4 
		
	
	Information on foreign registered HGVs is not routinely collected. However in the 2003 Survey of Foreign HGV Activity it was estimated that foreign registered HGVs travelled 0.9 billion kilometres. A similar survey will be taking place in 2009 to provide an update of this estimate.

High Speed Trains: Public Appointments

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the process of recruitment was which led to the appointment of Mr Andrew McNaughton to his role within High Speed Two.

Paul Clark: Britain's Transport infrastructure: High Speed Two, published in January 2009, said that High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd. would draw on resources from Network Rail and the Department for Transport. The process for recruitment of these resources is a matter for the HS2 company.

High Speed Trains: Public Appointments

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the names are of the directors and other members of senior management of High Speed Two.

Paul Clark: The directors of High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd. are Sir David Rowlands, Alison Munro, Timothy Wellburn and Sir Brian Briscoe (as non-executive). Sir David Rowlands is the interim chairman, and Alison Munro is the chief executive.

High Speed Trains: Public Appointments

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the process of recruitment was which led to the appointment of Sir David Rowlands as interim chairman of High Speed Two.

Paul Clark: High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd. was set up to carry out detailed work on the feasibility of a new high speed line and to report to Government by the end of the year. Sir David Rowlands was appointed as the interim chairman in order to take forward this work without delay. Sir David has unique experience in the field of high-speed rail and is highly qualified for the role. An open competition will take place to appoint a permanent chairman in due course.

Humber Bridge

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions his Department had on proposals to write off the debt on the Humber Bridge; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: Department for Transport officials met with the Humber Bridge Board to discuss the revision of the Humber Bridge debt interest rate which came into force on 19 June 2007. A copy of the new loan agreement was placed in the House Libraries at that time.
	The revised debt interest rate covers the five year period from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2011 at which time the debt interest rate will be reviewed.
	There have been no further discussions about the Humber Bridge debt since June 2007.

Railways: Northern Region

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with Network Rail on improvements to the railway line between Newcastle and Edinburgh to increase its  (a) passenger and  (b) freight capacity.

Paul Clark: Department for Transport officials have been in discussion with Network Rail about the Intercity Express Project and the published East Coast Main Line and Freight Route Utilisation Strategies in relation to improvements to passenger and freight capacity, including between Newcastle and Edinburgh.

Roads: Snow and Ice

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to fund the purchase of snow ploughs in the next 12 months.

Paul Clark: It is the responsibility of each local highway authority in England to develop a winter service strategy for its highway network. The Department for Transport is providing, as part of the local transport plan settlement, capital funding of 693 million in 2009-10 for local authority highways maintenance, though this is not ring-fenced to particular activities.
	The Highways Agency has completed the first phase of a four year procurement contract worth 45 million, to replace all winter fleet vehicles, including snow ploughs. The first phase has covered the North West, East and part of the South East. In the next 12 months, the Agency will be purchasing 43 dedicated snow ploughs and a further 182 vehicles adapted for the use of snow ploughs. These will cover areas in the North East, the Midlands and part of the South East.

Taxis: Criminal Records

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many licensed taxi drivers have a criminal record for  (a) motoring offences,  (b) violent crimes and  (c) sexual offences.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold this information centrally.
	Responsibility for licensing taxi drivers rests with local licensing authorities outside London and Transport for London in London. The relevant legislation requires them to determine whether an applicant for a taxi driver licence is a 'fit and proper' person to hold a licence. As part of this process, it is standard procedure to request a disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau. The authority will then decide whether any information contained in the disclosure means that the applicant should not be granted a licence.
	Under the Notifiable Occupations Scheme, when an individual comes to the notice of the police and identifies their occupation as a taxi driver, the police should notify the appropriate licensing authority of convictions and any other relevant information that indicates that a person poses a risk to public safety. It would then be for the licensing authority to decide whether to revoke or suspend the licence.

Trains

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of the number of new trains will be  (a) hybrid,  (b) diesel and  (c) electric models.

Paul Clark: Assuming no further electrification of the rail network, the mix of train types is approximately one third electric, one third self-power (diesel) and one third bi-mode (electric and diesel capability). That ratio will be subject to change depending on future decisions about further electrification.

Trains: York

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the location in York of the proposed train assembly and manufacturing factory.

Paul Clark: The choice of the UK train assembly and manufacturing site from a site in East Midlands, Yorkshire or the north-east is a matter for the train manufacturer.

West Coast Railway Line

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the effect of adding an additional hourly service to the Manchester to London railway line on local commuter services in Greater Manchester.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport meets train operating companies on a four weekly basis to review delivery of rail services and their ability to meet passenger requirements, particularly noting timetable changes.
	Performance for the four weeks to 31 January 2009 for Manchester commuter services achieved a level of 91 per cent., which suggests that the timetable is running well.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animals

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many members of staff within her Department deal with animal-related matters as part of their remit.

Phil Woolas: It is not possible, without contacting individuals, to identify who deals with animal-related matters.

Asylum

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions her Department has had with the Department for International Development on establishing training programmes in developing countries to enable asylum claimants from those countries to be returned safely.

Phil Woolas: Regular discussions, including about training programmes, take place as part of a programme of work funded by the Returns and Reintegration Fund (which is a cross-government fund supported by the Department for International Development, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the UK Border Agency, and with expertise from the Ministry of Justice. It is administered by the FCO.)
	The Fund aims to increase the numbers of failed asylum seekers returned to overseas countries and provide reintegration assistance. One of the Fund's objectives is to ensure that those who return voluntarily have the best possible chance of making their return a successful one.
	The Assisted Voluntary Return programme, which is supported by the Fund, provides in-country reintegration assistance including training programmes for returnees.

Asylum: Democratic Republic of Congo

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Democratic Republic of Congo nationals  (a) arrived in the UK as family reunion cases,  (b) applied for asylum and  (c) were granted asylum in each of the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 23 February 2009
	Annual statistics showing the categories under which passengers are granted leave to enter the United Kingdom can be found in chapter 2 of the Home Office publication Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2007. This publication may be obtained from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb1008.pdf.
	The following table shows the asylum application and grants of asylum figures for nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo for the last 12 months that have been published. Figures are provisional and rounded to the nearest five.
	Initial decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period.
	Information on asylum is published annually and quarterly. Annual figures on principal asylum applications are available in Table 2.1 and on grants of asylum in Table 3.1 of Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2007 published on 21 August 2008. Quarterly figures are available in the supplementary web tables published with the Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistics Summary. The Q4 2008 Quarterly Statistics Summary will be available on 24 February 2009 from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html
	
		
			  Asylum applications( 1)  received in the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, and initial decisions( 2, 3)  on applications, October 2007 to September 2008, nationals of Dem. Rep. of Congo 
			  Principal applicants 
			  Dem. Rep. of Congo  Applications  Decisions 
			   Total  Port  In country  Total decisions  of which grants of asylum 
			 October 2007 35 5 25 20 5 
			 November 2007 20 (4) 20 20 0 
			 December 2007 30 10 20 15 5 
			 January 2008 30 10 20 20 5 
			 February 2008 40 5 35 20 5 
			 March 2008 30 10 25 20 5 
			 April 2008 25 5 25 25 5 
			 May 2008 30 10 25 20 (4) 
			 June 2008 25 5 20 25 10 
			 July 2008 20 5 15 25 10 
			 August 2008 15 0 15 25 5 
			 September 2008 25 5 20 15 (4) 
			 Total 330 70 260 250 50 
			 (1 )Provisional figures rounded to nearest 5. (2 )Information is of initial decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions. (3 )Initial decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period. (4 )1 or 2.  Source:  Home Office, Migration Statistics

Asylum: Democratic Republic of Congo

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment has been made of the safety of people returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo under immigration legislation.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 23 February 2009
	On 3 December 2008 the Court of Appeal upheld an Asylum and Immigration Tribunal finding that there is no evidence that failed asylum seekers who are returned from the UK to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) face a general risk on return. The UK Border Agency continuously monitors the situation in asylum intake countries and is not aware of any subsequent allegations of ill-treatment of returnees to the DRC.

Asylum: Standards

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the performance figures for the asylum tipping point target were for each quarter since 2004.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 23 February 2009
	Levels of unfounded asylum applications and whether the tipping point target has been met in each quarter of 2004, 2005 and 2006 can be found on the UK Border Agency website at the following address:
	http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/reports/publicperformancetarget/
	Annual performance for 2007 was also published on the UK Border Agency website in November 2008.

Asylum: Zimbabwe

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of Zimbabwean nationals resident in the UK  (a) in total and  (b) with (i) asylum seeker status or exceptional leave to remain and (ii) a valid visa or other form of permission on the latest date for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: The Office for National Statistics collects data on nationality through the Annual Population Survey (APS). Estimates from the APS for the April 2007 to March 2008 period show that there were 63,000 Zimbabwean nationals in the UK.
	Information is not available from the Home Office on Zimbabwean nationals in the UK  (b) with (i) asylum seeker status or exceptional leave to remain and (ii) a valid visa or other form of permission as a person may leave the UK voluntarily without informing the UK Border Agency.
	Information on immigration and asylum flows is published annually and quarterly and is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration-asylum-stats.html

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff in her Department were recorded as having been on sick leave for over 12 months on 31 December in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office management information databases do not record sickness information in the form requested and to obtain it would incur a disproportionate cost.

Deportation: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who previously resided in the Peterborough City Council area and had no legal basis to remain in the United Kingdom were deported in the three months up to September 2008; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 24 February 2009
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 10 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1830W, in which he asked a similar question. The information could be obtained only by detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost.

Entry Clearances

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what visa application procedures are in place for visitors from  (a) Croatia,  (b) Serbia,  (c) Montenegro,  (d) Macedonia and  (e) Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Phil Woolas: Nationals of Croatia are non-visa nationals and therefore not required to obtain entry clearance before visiting the UK. Nationals of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina are visa nationals and must apply for entry clearance and be issued with a visa before travelling to the UK for a visit or any other purpose.

Entry Clearances

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to change the visa application procedures for visitors from  (a) Serbia and  (b) Macedonia.

Phil Woolas: The Home Secretary recently announced the outcome of the UK's first global review of its visa regimes. No changes were proposed to the visa requirements for nationals of either Serbia or Macedonia.

Entry Clearances

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for visas were approved under the  (a) International Graduates Scheme,  (b) Science and Engineering Graduates Scheme and  (c) Working in Scotland Scheme (Fresh Talent) in 2008; and how many dependants were included in such visas in each category.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 23 February 2009
	The number of visas issued in 2008 to participants in these schemes is shown in the following table. We cannot state how many visas were issued to dependents of those who have entered in these specific employment categories. This is because they are admitted under the same provision in the immigration rules as dependents of those entering in other employment categories, and separate records are therefore not kept.

Entry Clearances: EU Countries

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many EU nationals from each other EU member state have been refused entry into the UK on the grounds that their presence would threaten public safety in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The following table shows the total number of EU and EEA nationals who have been refused admission into the UK since 2004, under regulation 19 of the Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006, on the grounds that their presence would threaten public policy, public security or public health.
	
		
			  Nationality  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  Grand total 
			 Austria   1 1 1 3 
			 Belgium  2 7 15 20 44 
			 Bulgaria15 10 25 
			 Cyprus 1 1 
			 Czech Republic   7 6 18 31 
			 Denmark   2 1 1 4 
			 Estonia1  1 
			 Finland 3 3 
			 France  6 26 39 36 107 
			 Germany 1 2 27 31 38 99 
			 Greece   2 2 2 6 
			 Hungary  2 6 3 5 16 
			 Iceland   1   1 
			 Ireland   1 3  4 
			 Italy  1 10 24 11 46 
			 Latvia   7 15 5 27 
			 Lithuania  3 26 25 29 83 
			 Luxembourg 1 1 
			 Netherlands  2 21 53 38 114 
			 Norway1 1 2 
			 Poland  3 16 22 27 68 
			 Portugal  2 18 11 21 52 
			 Romania63 60 123 
			 Slovakia  2 6 11 8 27 
			 Slovenia   1 1 1 3 
			 Spain   4 3 3 10 
			 Sweden   6 4 2 12 
			 Grand total 1 25 195 350 342 913 
		
	
	The data provided are based on locally-collated management information, which may be subject to change and does not represent published national statistics.

Entry Clearances: Marriage

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications were made for marriage visas to enter the UK where the intended spouse was resident in the London Borough of Bexley in the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: In 2008, six applications for entry clearance as a fianc, and a further 66 for entry clearance as a spouse, were received where the sponsor (ie the intended spouse or spouse) was resident in the London borough of Bexley.
	This information is unpublished and should be treated as provisional.

Immigrants: Stop and Search

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) illegal and  (b) legal immigrants were (i) stopped, (ii) searched and (iii) arrested by the police in each police authority area in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	Information on stops and searches and resultant arrests reported to the Home Office does not include information on the immigration status of persons searched.

Immigration: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2009,  Official Report, column 819W, on immigration: Peterborough, how many of the 200 other non-EEA nationals were of each nationality; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Holding answer 25 February 2009
	 The following table details the number, by nationality, of 'Other non-EEA nationals' in Peterborough who were awaiting a decision on their leave to remain application as at 15 January 2009 pursuant to the answer given on 29 January 2009,  Official Report, column 819W.
	
		
			  Nationality  No. Of Cases 
			 Albania 5 
			 Algeria 5 
			 Angola  
			 Australia  
			 Bolivia  
			 Botswana  
			 Brazil  
			 Burundi  
			 China  
			 Congo (Democratic Republic)  
			 Egypt  
			 Ethiopia  
			 Yugoslavia  
			 Gambia(The)  
			 Georgia  
			 Ghana  
			 Guinea-Bissau  
			 Guyana  
			 India 10 
			 Iran 5 
			 Jamaica 10 
			 Kazakhstan  
			 Kenya 5 
			 Kosovo 5 
			 Liberia  
			 Libya  
			 Macedonia  
			 Malawi 5 
			 Malaysia  
			 Montenegro  
			 Morocco  
			 Namibia 5 
			 Nepal  
			 Nigeria 10 
			 Pakistan 40 
			 Philippines 5 
			 Serbia  
			 Russia  
			 Rwanda  
			 Somalia  
			 South Africa 10 
			 Sri Lanka  
			 Thailand  
			 Turkey 15 
			 Uganda  
			 Ukraine 5 
			 Tanzania  
			 United States 5 
			 Zimbabwe 25 
			 Total 195

Immigration: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at which location the UK Border Agency holds paper files on people resident in the administrative area of Peterborough City Council who are applying for indefinite leave to remain; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Holding answer 24 February 2009
	 : All files where an application for indefinite leave to remain is extant and requiring further work are sent to Beddington Cross in London for storage. Files are not held in the regional public enquiry office (PEO) as the team operates a fast turnaround policy for processing applications and therefore file storage is not required.
	Asylum case files remain with individual caseowners until conclusion upon which they are sent to 'layby'. It should be noted however that asylum cases will not be classed as applications for ILR as those granted status are given leave of up to five years after which ILR may or may not be granted.
	All ILR application cases that are concluded are sent to 'layby'; one central source is in Canning Town, Unit 3C, East London. Files sent to this location require no further work.

National Identity Register: Data Protection

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a person who has consented to share across Government information held on her Department's database will be able to withdraw the consent.

Phil Woolas: There is no single departmental database in the Home Office. If the Home Office is sharing personal information, including across Government, it needs to have a legal power to do so and it needs to be a lawful exercise of that power. The Home Office therefore needs to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 when sharing personal information.
	While consent is one of a number of conditions that can be relied on for data sharing to be considered fair and lawful under that Act, it is not the only condition, therefore the sharing of personal information can take place without the individual's consent. However, if consent is being relied on to enable the data sharing to take place, an individual has the right to withdraw that consent. If consent is withdrawn and there is no other basis for the sharing then it would stop.

National Security: Data Protection

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many certificates were issued under Section 28 of the Data Protection Act 1998 in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 2 February 2009
	 I can confirm the existence of one certificate signed by the Home Secretary, relating to Transport for London Traffic data signed in July 2007; and also of another signed in March 2008 relating to the Security Service. Copies of both these certificates have been placed in the Library in response to a parliamentary question from my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynne Jones) on 26 November 2008,  Official Report, column 2277W.
	In line with the established policy of successive governments when asked about national security matters, I can neither confirm nor deny whether these certificates represent all certificates.

Departmental Lobbying

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Ministers in her Department received representations from  (a) Lord Moonie,  (b) Lord Taylor of Blackburn,  (c) Lord Snape and  (d) Lord Truscott in the last seven months.

Phil Woolas: No ministers in my Department have received representations from  (a) Lord Moonie,  (b) Lord Taylor of Blackburn,  (c) Lord Snape and  (d) Lord Truscot in the last seven months.

Police: ICT

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information is intended to be recorded via the Pentip computer system; and how the system is intended to be implemented by police forces.

Vernon Coaker: PentiP will provide a single national computer system and improved business processes for the processing of penalty notices. It will replace the existing VP/FPO systems that are used in most police forces and magistrates courts in England and Wales. It will enable them to process the various types of penalty notices more efficiently and effectively than is possible with the existing systems.
	PentiP will record offence and offender information pertinent to the processing of the following disposal methods; penalty notices for disorder (PND), endorsable and non-endorsable road traffic offences, vehicle defect rectification scheme (VDRS), HO/RT1 and HO/RT2, national driver offender retraining schemes (NDORS), graduated fixed penalties (GFP), roadside deposits and verbal warnings.
	The primary data items that will be recorded on PentiP are as follows:
	Title
	Name
	Address
	DOB
	Gender
	Ethnicity
	Offence
	Date of offence
	Time of offence
	Location of offence
	Licence Number
	Vehicle Plate Number
	Vehicle make, model, colour
	Vehicle defects
	PentiP will be rolled out across police forces in England and Wales over a period of 12 months, commencing in September 2010.

Repatriation: Zimbabwe

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will review her policy on assisting Zimbabwean nationals resident in the UK to return to their country of origin to take account of changes in the political situation in Zimbabwe.

Phil Woolas: Zimbabweans have continued to return home voluntarily. Each returnee has been eligible for the basic voluntary assisted return and reintegration package to assist with their reintegration needs on return. This programme is implemented by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
	We recognise that the economic situation within Zimbabwe presents major challenges to Zimbabwean returnees. In order to make a more effective contribution to sustainable return it was decided that with effect from 1 February 2009 the reintegration assistance available would be enhanced as follows:
	A relocation grant increased from 500 to 1,000. This is given in sterling at the airport, before departure, where it can be converted into US dollars.
	An in-kind business set-up grant increased from 2,000 to 3,000. 2,500 worth of assistance will be available initially to obtain supplies and a further 500 will be available after a six month review of individual circumstances.
	Health education and advice as well as a supply of water purification tablets and a basic commodities and dry goods package.
	The enhancement will be implemented for six months as a pilot project.

Surveillance: EU Action

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether police forces of other EU member states are authorised to conduct surveillance operations of private property in the UK, including but not limited to personal computers, without a warrant; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: Pursuant to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 26 January 2009,  Official Report, column 94W, I can confirm that no police forces of other EU member states are authorised to conduct remote or covert surveillance of private property in the UK.

Vetting

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many disclosure applications the Criminal Records Bureau  (a) received in 2007-08 and  (b) has received in 2008-09 to date; and what steps she is taking to enable the Bureau to deal with any increases in such numbers.

Meg Hillier: The number of disclosure applications received by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) in 2007-08 and 2008-09 to date is detailed in the following table:
	
		
			  Financial year  Disclosure applications received (million) 
			 2007-08 3.4 
			 2008-09 to date 3.3 
		
	
	The CRB has continued to receive a higher than anticipated volume of disclosure applications. There are a number of reasons for this, but the volumes have put a great deal of pressure on both the CRB and the police forces. Forces have been responding effectively and positively to these high intakes and this has enabled record numbers of disclosures to be issued in recent months.
	Unfortunately, it is taking more time for some local police forces to recruit and train the extra staff that they need to be operating at full capacity. Consequently, some applications are taking longer to deal with. That said, over 85 per cent. of all disclosure applications received by the CRB are being completed within the 28 day target figure.
	For those forces which, for a variety of reasons, have been having greater difficulty with the increased demand, the CRB has been working very closely with them to address what additional help and support they may need. The CRB has provided assistance and support to them in the form of IT and workflow management expertise, accommodation and a 10 per cent. increase in staff resources. The CRB has also increased its own staff resources by 11 per cent. to provide support for the police disclosure units and the bureau continues to monitor their performance regularly.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will hold discussions with the trustees of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme on ways to improve benefits for scheme members.

Mike O'Brien: An actuarial valuation of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme is being conducted at present. Should any surplus emerge, Ministers will discuss with the scheme trustees how they might use their share to improve members' benefits.

Nuclear Power: Consultants

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1431-2W, on nuclear power: consultants, what role  (a) Mr David Hughes,  (b) Professor John Raine,  (c) Mr Bernard Whittle and  (d) Mr Phillip Woodward have in the generic design assessment.

Jonathan R Shaw: I have been asked to reply.
	Professor David Hughes, Professor John Raine, Mr. Bernard Whittle and Mr. Phillip Woodward are members of the independent Process Review Board set up by the Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations. The purpose of this board is to provide additional assurance to him that appropriate governance processes have been applied during the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process for new nuclear power stations. The full terms of reference for the board can be seen at:
	www.hse.gov.uk/newreactors/terms.htm

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Inland Waterways: Repairs and Maintenance

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the sum required to clear the maintenance backlog experienced by British Waterways; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The KPMG report commissioned by British Waterways concluded that there is a significant gap between current expenditure and that required under steady state to maintain its waterways. However, British Waterways have advised that current expenditure is sufficient to maintain the network in a reasonable and safe condition for this comprehensive spending review (CSR) period. In this context, there is no safety backlog though British Waterways estimates that it would cost around 200 million to bring all principal and non principal assets up to steady state condition.

HEALTH

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people  (a) were in structured care-planned treatment and  (b) discharged from an alcohol treatment programme in each strategic health authority area in each month since the commencement of national alcohol treatment monitoring.

Dawn Primarolo: Since 1 April 2008, the National Treatment Agency has collected data on individuals who receive specialist care-planned alcohol treatment, through the National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System. As this is a new system, and services' reporting compliance is still being improved, data are not yet robust. The information can however be found at:
	www.ndtms.net

Aortic Aneurysms: Screening

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bolton South East of 18 November 2008,  Official Report, column 343W, on aortic aneurysm: screening, when he expects the second stage of the phased implementation of the NHS abdominal aortic aneurysm screening programme to begin; and which NHS trusts will participate in that stage.

Ann Keen: It is anticipated that the next phase of implementation will begin in autumn 2009.
	At this stage no decisions have been made about which national health service trusts will take part in the next phase.

Aortic Aneurysms: Screening

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bolton South East of 18 November 2008,  Official Report, column 343W, on aortic aneurysm: screening, how many NHS trusts  (a) applied to participate in the early implementation phase of the abdominal aortic aneurysms screening programme and  (b) have applied to participate in subsequent phases of the programme.

Ann Keen: 16 national health service trusts applied to take part in the early implementation phase.
	36 trusts have applied to be considered for the next phase of implementation.

Aortic Aneurysms: Screening

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS trusts  (a) have a screening programme for abdominal aortic aneurysms and  (b) have ever operated such a screening programme.

Ann Keen: In addition to the following six early implementation sites: West Sussex (Royal West Sussex NHS Trust), Leicester (University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust), Gloucester (Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust), South Manchester (University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust), South Devon and Exeter (South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust) and South West London (St George's Healthcare NHS Trust), we are aware that abdominal aortic aneurysms screening has also taken place in:
	Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust; and
	Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
	However these are not part of a national coordinated screening programme at this stage.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 21 May 2008,  Official Report, column 364W, on apprentices, how many apprentices his Department employs.

Ben Bradshaw: Government Skills is planning to prepare a central response based on the numbers participating in the National Apprenticeship Pathfinder in 2008-09. This will be in the form of a table showing participating Departments and number of apprentices on the programme.
	The Department does not employ apprentices as part of the National Apprenticeship Pathfinder scheme. However, three staff are participating in the scheme in 2008-09 as part of their personal development.
	We have also made a commitment in the Next Stage Review to double our investment in apprenticeships by 2012-13, but we aim to go further and faster and we are starting with an additional 5,000 apprenticeships across health and social care next year.

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 21 May 2008,  Official Report, column 364W, on apprentices, what progress his Department has made towards meeting its share of the Government's commitment to employ over 1,000 apprentices in central Government Departments and agencies in 2008-09.

Ben Bradshaw: Government Skills is planning to prepare a central response based on the number participating in the National Apprenticeship Pathfinder in 2008-09. This will be in the form of a table showing participating Departments and number of apprentices on the programme.
	The Department is working with Government Skills on this initiative and three staff are participating in the National Apprenticeships Pathfinder during 2008-09 as part of their personal development.
	We have also made a commitment in the Next Stage Review to double our investment in apprenticeships by 2012-13, but we aim to go further and faster and we are starting with an additional 5,000 apprenticeships across health and social care next year.

Cancer: Research

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding his Department has allocated to research into renal cancer in each of the last three financial years; how much he plans to allocate for that purpose in each of the next three financial years; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Over the last 10 years, the main part of the Department's research and development budget has been allocated to and managed by national health service organisations. Those organisations have accounted for their use of the allocations they have received from the Department in an annual research and development report. The reports identify total, aggregated expenditure on national priority areas, including cancer. They do not provide details of research into particular cancer sites.
	The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), a United Kingdom wide partnership between Government, charities and industry, makes cancer research information available online via the international cancer research portfolio database at
	www.cancerportfolio.org.
	The NCRI's 2004 strategic analysis of the directly funded cancer research supported by Government and charities showed that 62 per cent. of total funding was dedicated to supporting research that could be applicable to all cancers.
	The usual practice of the Department's National Institute for Health Research and of the Medical Research Council is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. Future levels of expenditure on renal cancer research will be determined by the success of relevant bids for funding.

Cancer: Research

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the progress of ongoing clinical trials of treatments for renal cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The National Institute for Health Research Cancer Research Network (NCRN) provides the health service infrastructure to support clinical trials for people with cancer. One of the aims of the NCRN is to improve the quality, speed and co-ordination of clinical research by removing the barriers to research in the national health service.
	The NCRN is currently supporting eight clinical trials for people with renal cancer. Four of these trials have completed patient recruitment and patients are being followed up. One trial is in the process of being set up, and three trials are currently open to recruitment. The three trials that are open to recruitment are progressing according to plan, and are on target to finish on time.

Health Centres

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) postcode,  (b) expected service commencement date and  (c) primary care trust area of each planned GP-led health centre is according to the most recent monthly update from primary care trusts.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested has been placed in the Library and relates to information received in January.

Health Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) name and  (b) postcode location of each (i) accident and emergency department, (ii) minor injuries unit and (iii) NHS walk-in centre in England listed on the NHS choices website is.

Ben Bradshaw: The NHS Choices service, launched in June 2007, is the Department's and the national health service's primary online service to the public for health-related information and advice. All data records published via NHS Choices are freely available to the public via the NHS Choices website at www.nhs.uk. This includes listings for 213 accident and emergency departments, 223 minor injury units, and 93 walk-in centres.
	The name and postcode location of each accident and emergency department, minor injuries unit and NHS walk-in centre listed on NHS Choices has been placed in the Library.

HIV Infection

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has issued guidance to primary care trusts with a high level of HIV infection following recommendations by the Health Protection Agency that HIV tests should be offered as a matter of routine to patients registering with GPs.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department is funding eight pilot projects in London and other sites in England aimed at testing new approaches to HIV testing, especially in high prevalence areas. Primary care settings are included in these pilots. The projects will be evaluated, to determine whether guidance to primary care trusts is needed.

Hospital Wards: Gender

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  with reference to his announcement of 28 January 2009 on mixed-sex accommodation in the NHS, what definition of sharing of sleeping accommodation or toilet facilities is used in his Department's guidance to trusts;
	(2)  with reference to his announcement of 28 January 2009 on mixed-sex accommodation in the NHS; how many improvement teams there will be; what the size of each team will be; how much will be allocated to each team; what qualifications members of teams will have; and to which hospitals the teams will provide support;
	(3)  with reference to his announcement of 28 January 2009 on mixed-sex accommodation in the NHS, how he plans to create a greater focus on measuring and improving patient experience of mixed-sex accommodation.

Ann Keen: The Government are committed to reducing mixed sex accommodation to an absolute minimum. This means that men and women should not share sleeping accommodation unless this can be justified by their need for treatment. In mental health units, this should never happen.
	We have recently announced a package of measures as follows:
	a 100 million 'Privacy and Dignity Fund' to support improvementswith changes using this money expected to be implemented by no later than June this year;
	tough financial penalties for those hospitals who do not deliver, (to be introduced from 2010-11); and
	the establishment of improvement teams to go into those hospitals that need more support, to help them focus on improving patient experience in this area.
	We know from our success in driving down health care associated infections (HCAIs), that the improvement team approach has a good track record in delivery. We are therefore setting up a short-term central improvement team for mixed sex accommodation with an expected life of around six months. The intention is that thereafter responsibility will be devolved to the NHS. The fine details of who will be employed in the teams, and how they will be deployed will depend on local needs, and are currently being developed.
	Funding from the privacy and dignity fund will not be specifically attached to improvement teams, rather it will be distributed against detailed plans drawn up by each SHA. Distribution of resources within SHAs will be based on those schemes that demonstrate the greatest return for the planned investment.
	Our existing definitions in respect of the environment are still relevant, and are set out below. However, we have expanded this to move towards a definition based on individual patient experience, rather than on buildings.
	It is not acceptable for people to share sleeping accommodation unless it can be clinically justified for each patient. Some of the circumstances in which this might apply are as follows:
	patient needs very high-tech care, with one-to-one nursing (e.g. ICU, HDU);
	patient needs very specialised care, where one nurse might be caring for a small number of patients and cannot safely leave the room other than for very short periods (e.g. immediately following major surgery); and
	patient needs very urgent care (e.g. rapid admission following a heart attack)
	Inevitably, applicability of the above circumstances calls for a fine judgement that needs to be made on an individual basis. For instance, in a four-bed bay, it means that mixing must be justifiable for all patients, not just one. It is also a judgement that needs to be revisited regularlyfor example, in the very early stages following a stroke, when the patient has reduced consciousness and needs regular observation, then mixing might be justifiable. However, in the later stages of recovery, when the patient is receiving rehabilitation (or palliative care), then we would expect greater segregation.
	Men and women should not normally have to share sleeping accommodation or toilet facilities. Irrespective of where patients are, staff should always take the utmost care to respect their privacy and dignity.
	Single-sex accommodation can be provided in:
	single-sex wards (i.e. the whole ward is occupied by men or women but not both);
	single rooms with adjacent single-sex toilet and washing facilities (preferably en-suite); and
	single-sex accommodation within mixed wards (i.e. bays or rooms which accommodate either men or women, not both; with designated single-sex toilet and washing facilities preferably within or adjacent to the bay or room).
	In addition, patients should not need to pass through opposite sex accommodation or toilet and washing facilitates to access their own.
	There are no exceptions to delivering high standards of privacy and dignity. The exceptions established under 'Mixed-sex accommodation: Health Service Circular 1998/143' were reporting exceptions only, and no longer apply.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect of a policy of single embryo transfer on the full implementation of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines on fertility by primary care trusts;
	(2)  what recent assessment his Department has made of how a policy of single embryo transfer will be implemented in fertility clinics; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent discussions  (a) he and  (b) his Department have had with (i) primary care trusts and (ii) other organisations on implementing a policy of single embryo transfer.

Dawn Primarolo: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in partnership with professional bodies and other stakeholders, including patient groups and representatives of the national health service (NHS), has developed a national strategy to significantly reduce the incidence of multiple births resulting from in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and related treatments. This strategy is known as the One at a Time campaign and includes promoting greater use of single embryo transfers (SET) where this is clinically appropriate for individual patients, leaving scope for the exercise of clinical discretion. The Department has observer status on the group that has determined the strategy.
	The HFEA policy aims to lower the average national multiple birth rate from the current rate of just under 23 per cent. of all live birth events following IVF and related treatments to 10 per cent. For 2009, HFEA licensed treatment centres are expected not to exceed the 24 per cent. figure, a figure determined by the HFEA, on the basis of national average at the time the Year 1 target was agreed. This target will be progressively lowered towards a 10 per cent. national target. The HFEA will carefully monitor the impact of its policy, including any impact on fresh embryo treatment cycle pregnancy rates, to ensure that all the target rates set are appropriate. The HFEA will set a Year 2 maximum multiple birth rate in the light of progress during 2009. The HFEA wrote to all directors of public health in primary care trusts about this on 4 February 2009.
	The HFEA has required all licensed treatment centres to have in place a documented multiple births minimisation strategy, setting out how they intend to reduce their annual multiple birth rates and to ensure that they do not exceed the maximum rate set. These strategies must include criteria for SET. Centres are required to send copies of their strategies to the HFEA.
	The Department has established an expert group on commissioning NHS infertility provision to identify the barriers to the implementation of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) fertility guideline in England and to help NHS commissioners to progress towards full implementation of the guideline. The expert group produced an interim report in August 2008, which recognised that patients are more likely to accept SET if they are assured that provision of services is established in line with the NICE guideline.

Local Public Health Laboratories

Eric Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what plans he has for the future funding of local public health laboratories;
	(2)  how many public health laboratories have closed in the last 10 years.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available concerning closures of public health laboratories between 1999 and 2003, when public health laboratories were the responsibility of the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS). Responsibility in England for the public health laboratory function was transferred from the PHLS to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) on 1 April 2003. There have been no closures of public health laboratories since 1 April 2003, although there have been some changes in the service configuration.
	The Department plans to continue funding the HPA to carry out this function locally, as well as regionally and nationally, in line with its responsibilities under the Health Protection Agency Act 2004.

NHS: Construction

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the compliance of NHS trusts undertaking construction projects with Government guidance requiring payment of invoices submitted by tier one contractors within 10 days.

Ben Bradshaw: National health service prompt payments to suppliers' performance information, is collected on a quarterly and on an annual basis against a 30 day target. Information on performance by industry sector or supplier is not collected.
	David Nicholson, NHS chief executive, wrote to all NHS trust chief executives on 21 October asking them to examine and review existing payment practices and payment performance and to move as closely as possible to the 10-day payment commitment that has been set for Government Departments wherever practical. Bill Moyes, executive chair, Monitor, has written similarly to all foundation trusts.
	However we do not currently collect performance data of total NHS bills paid within 10 days because no specific requirement has yet been placed on NHS bodies to meet this target.

NHS: Drugs

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether his Department has issued guidance to primary care trusts on the funding of drugs commonly used towards a patient's end of life via exceptional case procedures;
	(2)  what his Department's policy is on the provision of drugs commonly used towards the end of life for patients with rarer cancers;
	(3)  what his Department's policy is on the disparities which exist between different health care trust areas in the provision of those drugs commonly used by NHS patients approaching the end of their lives; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: On 21 January 2009, the Department issued draft Directions to primary care trusts (PCTs) on decisions about drugs and other treatments along with a guiding principles document aimed at helping PCTs improve the consistency and quality of local decision making on drug funding in England. Copies of the draft Directions and the guiding principles have been placed in the Library. The National Prescribing Centre will shortly be publishing a handbook of good practice offering practical advice to help PCTs in making drug funding decisions.
	On 2 January 2009, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued supplementary advice to its Appraisal Committees, to provide more flexibility in the evaluation of higher-cost drugs, which have been shown to extend the lives of terminally ill patients with less common conditions. This advice is available on NICE's website at:
	www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/howwework/devnicetech/technologyappraisalprocessguides/guidetothemethodsoftechnologyappraisal.jsp
	The NHS Constitution, which was published on 21 January 2009, includes a right for patients to access drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use in the NHS if they are clinically appropriate. A copy has already been placed in the Library. It also sets out the right of patients to expect local decisions on the funding of other drugs and treatments to be made rationally following a proper consideration of the evidence.

NHS: Manpower

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Department has spent on legal fees in completed actions against individual NHS staff in each of the last five years, broken down by case.

Ann Keen: The Department does not take legal action against individual national health service staff.

NHS: Manpower

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has budgeted for legal fees in respect of actions against NHS staff in 2008-09.

Ann Keen: The Department does not take legal action against individual national health service staff, and therefore does not set a budget for such activity.

Nutrition: Screening

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with healthcare professionals on the inclusion of nutritional screening as a directed enhanced service in the community pharmacy contract.

Phil Hope: The Department has had no discussions on the inclusion of nutritional screening as a directed enhanced service in the community pharmacy contract.
	The provision of healthy lifestyle advice, including advice on diet and nutrition is already an essential service to be provided by all community pharmacies for people presenting prescriptions for diabetes, those at risk of heart disease, those who are hypertensive, who smoke and are overweight. Educational resources were distributed to all community pharmacies in March 2007, to help them provide healthy lifestyle advice in a consistent manner. They are available at:
	www.pharmacymeetspublichealth.org

Pharmacy: Health Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of pharmacy consultations which result in referral to other healthcare services;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the proportion of pharmacies which provide an influenza vaccination service;
	(3)  what progress his Department has made towards applying world-class commissioning competencies to the commissioning of pharmaceutical services, as referred to on page 23 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7341;
	(4)  what progress his Department has made in discussions on appropriate measures to support adherence to medicines, as referred to on page 33 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(5)  what progress his Department has made on research to establish the extent to which medicines are not used, as referred to on page 32 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(6)  what methodology was used to calculate the figure of 100 million for the costs of unused and unwanted medicines referred to in his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431; and what estimate he has made of this cost in the last 12 months;
	(7)  what progress his Department has made in developing further incremental implementations of repeat dispensing, as referred to on page 31 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(8)  which primary care trusts commission services from community pharmacies to stock medicines that people may need at the end of their life, as referred to on page 36 of his Department's Pharmacy White Paper, Pharmacy in England, CM 7431;
	(9)  what reasons he has identified for the decline in the number of local enhanced home delivery services commissioned by primary care trusts in England between 2006-07 and 2007-08, as referred to in table 6 of the General Pharmaceutical Services in England and Wales 1998-99 to 2007-08 bulletin;
	(10)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the Public Health Leadership Forum for Pharmacy's work programme for 2008-10, referred to on page 52 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(11)  what progress has been made by NHS Connecting for Health in scoping arrangements for electronically capturing information about  (a) interventions made and  (b) advice given by pharmacists in promoting health lifestyles, as referred to on page 53 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(12)  what progress his Department has made in incorporating minor ailments schemes within the community pharmacy contractual framework since 3 April 2008;
	(13)  what assessment he has made of the extent to which pharmacies have been included in local schemes to help reduce unintended pregnancies, as referred to on page 56 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(14)  what contributions which pharmacies can make to the care of people with diabetes have been identified to date by the National Clinical Director for Diabetes and the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, as referred to on page 58 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm7431;
	(15)  what progress has been made in introducing a support service for people who are newly prescribed a medicine to treat a long-term condition within the community pharmacy contractual framework, as referred to on page 65 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(16)  what steps he is taking to develop  (a) professional and  (b) contractual arrangements to ensure that people with symptoms from cancer are efficiently referred onwards by pharmacists, as referred to on page 67 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(17)  on what dates in 2008 the working group on pharmacy medical and public representatives referred to on page 74 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431, met; if he will place in the Library a copy of the  (a) agenda for and  (b) minutes from each of the meetings; what progress the working group has made in promoting more effective professional relationships between pharmacists and other healthcare professionals; and if he will make a statement;
	(18)  what progress he has made in planning communications which will  (a) highlight the breadth of services and skills available in pharmacies,  (b) illustrate the role that pharmacies can play in promoting good health,  (c) raise awareness of the knowledge of the role that pharmacies can play in managing long-term conditions and reducing health inequalities and  (d) increase the use of pharmacy services, as referred to on page 72 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431; what the target audience is for each strand of communications; what further qualitative research he has commissioned to develop a better understanding of the particular needs of these audiences as referred to on page 72 of the White Paper; when he plans to introduce the communications programme; what expenditure he estimates his Department will incur on the communications programme in (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11; and if he will make a statement;
	(19)  what research the National Institute for Health Research has undertaken into pharmacy since its establishment; and what priorities have been identified for research into pharmacy by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, as referred to on page 78 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(20)  what steps he is taking to utilise the pharmacy network to promote pharmacovigilance, as referred to on page 79 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(21)  what assessment his Department has made of the availability of specialist pharmacy services across England; and if he will make a statement;
	(22)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the workforce planning for pharmacy undertaken to inform the NHS Next Stage Review, as referred to on page 99 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(23)  what progress is being made in reviewing the requirements contained within pharmaceutical needs assessments, as referred to on page 106 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England; when he expects the review to be completed; whether the results of the review will be piloted; if he will make it his policy to ensure that primary care trusts are judged to be competent in conducting pharmaceutical needs assessments prior to doing so; and if he will make a statement;
	(24)  from what date his Department intends to include directed enhanced services within the community pharmacy contractual framework, as referred to on page 109 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England; what progress has been made in deciding which services to include in directed enhanced services; whether he plans to introduce an enhanced services expenditure floor for pharmacy services; and if he will make a statement;
	(25)  what arrangements his Department has put in place to  (a) identify and  (b) address unwarranted variations in standards and quality of pharmacy service delivery, as referred to on page 111 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431;
	(26)  what the outcomes were of the annual pharmacy-based audit, as referred to on page 112 of his Department's White Paper, Pharmacy in England, Cm 7431 in each year since it became operational; what progress has been made in strengthening the clinical audit of pharmacy services; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: Good progress is being made in implementing the White Paper Pharmacy in England: Building on strengthsdelivering the future to achieve the Government's future vision for pharmaceutical services in this country. The two national clinical directors for pharmacy have been appointed to champion the development of pharmaceutical services and help deliver the White Paper's objectives.
	As chapter 3 of the White Paper sets out, we are keen to improve the way medicines are accessed and used. Research has been commissioned from the universities of York and London to examine the scale and cost of medicines wasted, as well as the complex and varied reasons why people do not take their medicines as intended. The findings are expected later this year and will inform policy development for influencing both health professionals and members of the public to reduce the amount of unwanted medicines and provide value for money for the national health service. The figure of 100 million for the costs of unwanted and unused medicines in the White Paper is no more than a cautious estimate. The 2000 Spending Review stated that various small scale studies have suggested that the value of medicines returned to pharmacies amounts to 1.5-2 per cent. of the overall drugs bill, which was 5,160 million in 2000-01. No estimate has been made of this cost in the last 12 months.
	The research on the extent and reasons why medicines are not used will also inform measures to support adherence to medicines. These measures will be subject to discussions with key stakeholders and interested parties, taking into account guidance, such as the recently published report from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Medicines adherence: Involving patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence published in January 2009, as well as local enhanced services already being commissioned by primary care trusts (PCTs).
	Information on the services PCTs commission from community pharmacies to stock medicines that people may need at the end of their lifea local enhanced service termed 'on demand availability of specialist drugsis contained in table 6 of General Pharmaceutical Services in England and Wales 1998-00 to 2007-08 and a breakdown by PCT is in its online appendixboth of which were published by the Information Centre for health and social care in November 2008. Copies of the documents have already been placed in the Library. Home delivery services are commissioned by PCTs according to patients' needs locally. Many pharmacies voluntarily provide such a service.
	Pharmacists have been established reporters to the yellow card scheme since 1998. They have a particularly important role in detecting and reporting suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in association with over the counter medicines including herbal products and newly reclassified medicines. By the end of January 2009, the Medicines Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had received in excess of 20,000 reports from the profession, contributing 13 per cent. of all yellow cards annually.
	The MHRA recognises that pharmacists have a crucial role to play in pharmacovigilance, not just in the submission of suspected ADR reports, but also in raising public awareness of patient reporting. Following a successful national campaign to raise awareness of the yellow card scheme in community pharmacies during 2008, there was a 50 per cent. increase in patient reporting and a doubling in online reporting.
	The MHRA is now exploring further use of the pharmacy network in conjunction with the chief pharmaceutical officer for England. To recognise the important role pharmacists play in pharmacovigilance, specific information pages for pharmacists are being launched on the MHRA website at the end of February 2009. These will provide up to date information and guidance on ADR reporting.
	A wider range of services is being commissioned from pharmacies according to local need. Some PCTs are commissioning community pharmacies to provide seasonal influenza vaccination following training and accreditation, to help GPs attain their targets. Information on the proportion of all pharmacies providing this service is not collected centrally. In many parts of the country, pharmacies are one of the main sources of access to emergency hormonal contraception, either through over the counter sales or through the use of patient group directions. In addition, a total of 26.8 million of additional funding has been allocated in 2008-09 to special health authorities (SHAs) and PCTs to improve women's knowledge of, and access to, the full range of contraception, to help reduce the number of teenage pregnancies and abortions. It is for SHAs and PCTs to determine how to use this funding most effectively to meet the needs of their local populations. SHAs have been working with PCTs to agree local action plans to develop innovative schemes, including pharmacy-based schemes, to improve awareness of and access to all types of contraception. The extent to which pharmacies have been included in local schemes to help reduce unintended pregnancies has not been assessed.
	Many pharmacies are already providing services to people with diabetesranging from blood glucose testing and carrying out blood pressure measurements to providing healthy lifestyle advice. The Department is working with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and the National Pharmacy Association to develop resources to support the further integration of pharmacy into the care of people with diabetes, which will be endorsed by the national clinical director for diabetes and the chief pharmaceutical officer for England. These resources, expected to be completed by autumn 2009, will identify how pharmacy can play its part in the integrated care of people with diabetes to help ensure that patients get seamless care.
	Pharmacists also have an important role in raising awareness of symptoms of cancer. The Department has funded leaflets containing key messages on lung cancer awareness, which will be distributed to all community pharmacies shortly. The Department will be discussing with key stakeholders and interested parties, how best to incorporate referral systems for people with symptoms indicative of cancer, within the community pharmacy contractual framework. The Department is also considering how to engage pharmacists further in raising awareness of other cancers and referring on to other healthcare professionals, where appropriate.
	The introduction of a support service for people who are newly prescribed a medicine to treat a long-term condition will be informed by ongoing discussions with key stakeholders and interested parties, as will the incorporation of minor ailments schemes within the community pharmacy contractual framework. Both services will take account of local enhanced services already being commissioned by PCTs, research into public awareness and knowledge, and will be subject to further negotiation. Similarly, the use of directed enhanced services within the community pharmacy contractual framework is subject to further discussions and negotiations taking into account local enhanced services already being commissioned by PCTs.
	No estimate has been made of the proportion of pharmacy consultations, which result in referrals to other healthcare services, as this information is not collected centrally.
	In keeping with the NHS next stage review, pharmacy has an important role in prevention, as well as treatment. The public health leadership forum for pharmacy has identified its work programme for 2008-09 as the development of educational resources on sustainable development, sexual health and mental health for distribution to all community pharmacies in England. Resources for sustainable development were published and distributed in September 2008. The resources for sexual health and mental health are expected to be published by the end of 2009. The Forum has agreed that its programme of work for 2009-10 will consist of:
	developing a model for healthy living centre pharmacies, which will identify the services that might be provided as well as what such pharmacies might look like;
	taking steps to enable pharmacy staff to become health trainers; and
	facilitating the development of a plan to develop leadership training for senior pharmacists working within PCTs so they can influence commissioning decisions.
	Initial scoping of the extent of the provision of specialist pharmacy services across England has been completed and advice is being sought from the specialist commissioning group directors network and the national specialist commissioning group on the commissioning of these services.
	These developments need to be underpinned by effective professional relationships, communications and information technology. The Department asked NHS employers in 2008 to convene and lead a working group of pharmacy, medical and public representatives to formulate a series of actions to promote more effective professional relationships. Further details of the working group are held by NHS employers. One aspect of the group's remit was to identify and agree mechanisms that can support further incremental implementation of repeat dispensing. In January 2009, the working group published Guidance for the implementation of repeat dispensing for general practices, to support this. A copy has been placed in the Library. In addition, the working group have published guidance for general practices on the medicines use review service, and have issued a joint letter to community pharmacists, general practitioners and their local representatives to help facilitate discussions between general practitioners GPs and pharmacists on key work areas including repeat dispensing. The three documents can be found at:
	www.nhsemployers.org/pay-conditions/primary-211.cfm.
	To support communication planning the Department commissioned an extensive qualitative research programme in September 2008 that was completed, as scheduled, in December. The research identified key segments within the population and gave insight into their differing uses of, and attitudes towards, pharmacy. The Department is considering the implications of these findings for the communications programme and expects to publish the research together with an outline communications plan later this spring. Further qualitative research is being commissioned by the Department on the opinions of the pharmacy profession towards delivering the services outlined in the White Paper. This research will be completed by this summer. 65,000 has been spent in 2008-09 to date on the research to support the communications programme. Estimates for future years' expenditure are not yet available.
	A pharmacy information technology programme is being established by the Department and NHS Connecting for Health. One of its first responsibilities will be to progress the White Paper commitment to electronically capture information about interventions made and advice given, by pharmacists.
	Structural and legislative reform is also needed and the Department consulted on a number of proposals in autumn 2008, including PCTs assessing pharmaceutical needs. A preliminary report of the outcome of that consultation on those elements which require changes to the primary legislation was published on 16 January 2009 alongside the Health Bill 2009. The Bill proposes placing a requirement on PCTs to undertake and to publish their assessments of pharmaceutical needs. Subject to parliamentary approval, regulations would then set out the structure and content of these assessments, how PCTs should carry them out and the requirements for publication. The Department expects to work closely with interested parties, including NHS and contractors' representatives, on drafting the regulations. At this stage, the Department does not propose to pilot these requirements, but to roll them out across PCTs with appropriate support and training programmes.
	The Department asked NHS Employers to set up a short-term working group in 2008 to review the structure of, and data requirements for, PCTs' pharmaceutical needs assessments and to develop a support programme so that these assessments will be an effective and robust commissioning tool, which support local decisions. NHS employers published the first element of this support programmeGuidance for PCTs on pharmaceutical needs assessments (PNAs) as part of world class commissioning, which has been prepared to dovetail with the world-class commissioning programmeon 7 January 2009. A copy has been placed in the Library. It is available at:
	www.nhsemployers.org/PNAguidance.
	Further resources will be published later this spring. These will include guidance on how to commission pharmaceutical services and more detailed advice on the information these needs assessments should contain. These resources are designed to provide a comprehensive support programme for PCTs to achieve the necessary capability to be world-class commissioners of high quality pharmaceutical services.
	The Department is committed to continuing to work with the NHS and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee to devise proposals to ensure that effective arrangements are in place to address unwarranted variations in standards and quality of pharmaceutical service delivery. Following consultation last autumn, provisions in the Health Bill 2009 will, subject to parliamentary approval, introduce new powers to enable PCTs, through regulations, to issue remedial notices to contractors or to withhold payments due to them. These new powers will form part of the Department's programme to ensure appropriate discretionary levers are available to PCTs to secure quality pharmaceutical services and to manage contractors' performance. Subject to discussions with key stakeholders and negotiation, this will be supported by strengthening the clinical governance requirements of the contractual framework which already require amongst other things, contractors to carry out an annual patient survey and one pharmacy-based and one multi-disciplinary audit. These audits are undertaken locally and no data is held on them centrally.
	Research to inform future developments and an appropriate pharmacy workforce are also important. Research into pharmaceutical services is a relatively new area. Its focus has largely been on the acceptability and uptake of services by the public and on perceptions of the profession and their job satisfaction. Measures to date have largely been expressed in terms of inputs and outputs, rather than in terms of service quality, outcomes and relative cost effectiveness.
	Therefore, chapter 6 of the White Paper sets out action by the chief pharmaceutical officer for England to convene an expert panel to advise on research priorities to improve the evidence base underpinning the value and effectiveness of pharmacy services.
	This will be informed by:
	the extensive and ongoing qualitative research programme commissioned through the pharmacy White Paper;
	the ongoing composite review of the relevant research literature on the contribution of community pharmacy to improving the public's health, covering the period 1990-2007, which will be completed and published in due course; and
	the outcome of an event hosted by the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust, held on the 5 and 6 November 2008, to which the chief pharmaceutical officer for England contributed. The event was designed to begin to develop a UK wide research strategy for pharmacy and brought together key stakeholders across pharmacy and academia to initiate discussions around the concept of an overarching profession led UK wide research strategy for pharmacy.
	Pharmacy workforce planning forms part of the arrangements to strengthen workforce planning for all professions set out in A High Quality Workforce, published in July 2008. A copy has been placed in the Library. The chief pharmaceutical officer for England has established the modernising pharmacy careers programme board to provide professional advice and scrutiny on workforce plans where these concern pharmacists and other pharmacy staff (for example pharmacy technicians) providing NHS services. The pharmacy professional advisory board will work closely with Medical Education, England, which will provide professional, high level scrutiny of and advice on the quality of workforce planning at a national level for doctors, dentists, pharmacists and healthcare scientists. Arrangements are in place for the modernising pharmacy careers programme board's first meeting in February 2009

Sickle Cell Diseases

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to ensure the implementation of the Standards for the Clinical Care of Adults with Sickle Cell Disease in the UK endorsed by his Department.

Ann Keen: The Department has recently commissioned an informal review of the current clinical service provision for Haemoglobin disorders. It is due to report in spring 2009. The standards documents produced by the Sickle Cell Society and the UK Thalassaemia Society have been used as a basis for local discussion for the service review.
	This review will inform our considerations about how best to support the national health service in further improving the quality of clinical services for Haemoglobin disorders.

Smoking

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many calls have been made to the smokefree compliance line in each year since it was established; and how much the line cost  (a) to establish and  (b) to operate in each year since it was established.

Dawn Primarolo: Details of the number of calls are published on the Smokefree England website at
	www.smokefreeengland.co.uk,
	and on page seven of the report Smokefree Englandone year on.
	The Smokefree Compliance Line has been in operation since 1 July 2007.
	In 2007-08 the set up costs for the Smokefree Compliance line was 8,810, and the operating costs from July 2007 to March 2008 was 57,595. The operating costs in 2008-09 to date is 29,717.
	A copy of the report Smokefree Englandone year on has been placed Library.

Social Services: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure recruitment of adequate numbers of social workers in the Leeds city area;
	(2)  how many social worker vacancies there are in the Leeds metropolitan area.

Phil Hope: This information is not held centrally.
	Recruitment of social work staff is a matter for the employer concerned.
	The Department has worked with stakeholders and employers in planning this year's national social care recruitment campaign.

Steroid Drugs

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each Government region  (a) under 18 years old and  (b) in total were treated for steroid-related health problems in each of the last five years.

Dawn Primarolo: A direct answer cannot be given as it is hard to define what is meant by the term steroid-related health problems. Information is available on a count of hospital admissions for 'poisoning (improper use) by steroids' by age group and government office region for the last five years, and is shown in the following table. The footnotes to the table should used for data interpretation.
	The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, an independent body advising the Government on drug related issues, is concerned about the misuse of anabolic steroids by the general public and in particular young people, and has established a working group to consider the evidence of harms more fully.
	
		
			  Count of hospital admissions for 'poisoning (improper use) by steroids'( 1)  by Age and Government office region Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			   2006-07  2005-06  2004-05 
			   Under 18  18 and over  Unknown  Total  Under 18  18 and over  Unknown  Total  Under 18  18 and over  Unknown  Total 
			 A-North East 21 246  267 11 208  219 9 214  223 
			 B-North West 50 492  542 59 459  518 26 440  466 
			 D-Yorkshire and The Humber 17 222  239 2 236  238 16 205  221 
			 E-East Midlands 13 282  295 13 345 1 359 11 368  379 
			 F-West Midlands 14 308  322 19 281  300 16 298  314 
			 G-East of England 25 512  537 22 489  511 15 384  399 
			 H-London 27 395  422 20 323 2 345 16 237  253 
			 J-South East 43 473  516 28 476  504 27 430  457 
			 K-South West 26 651 1 678 38 571 24 633 27 486 5 518 
			 Non-England and Unknown 6 48 39 93 3 48  51 5 56  61 
			  
			 Total 242 3,629 40 3,911 215 3,436 27 3,678 168 3,118 5 3,291 
		
	
	
		
			   2003-04  2002-03 
			   Under 18  18 and over  Unknown  Total  Under 18  18 and over  Unknown  Total 
			 A-North East 4 263  267 14 259  273 
			 B-North West 30 483  513 23 563  586 
			 D-Yorkshire and The Humber 30 236  266 20 301  321 
			 E-East Midlands 12 380  392 23 327  350 
			 F-West Midlands 13 263  276 11 419  430 
			 G-East of England 21 435  456 27 383  410 
			 H-London 12 222  234 23 221  244 
			 J-South East 23 405 1 429 32 434 2 468 
			 K-South West 24 488 1 513 13 585  598 
			 Non-England and Unknown 3 49 3 55 5 62 32 99 
			  
			 Total 172 3,224 5 3,401 191 3,554 34 3,779 
			 (1) The ICD-10 codes for poisoning (improper use) by steroids are: T38.0 Glucocorticoids and synthetic analogues T36.5 Other estrogens and progestogens T38.7 Androgens and anabolic congeners T50.0 Mineralcorticoids and their antagonists All of the following ICD-10 Y codes would be found in a secondary position and would indicate that the preceding condition was an adverse effect of steroids in therapeutic use (i.e. the adverse effect of a prescribed steroid drug): Y42.0 Glucocorticoids and synthetic analogues Y42.5 Other estrogens and progestogens Y42.7 Androgens and anabolic congeners Y54.0 Mineralocorticoids Y54.1 Mineralocorticoid antagonists (aldosterone antagonists)  Notes: 1. Finished admission episodes: A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. 2. Data quality: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. Data are also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the English NHS. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. 3. Assessing growth through time: HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. The quality and coverage of the data have improved over time. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years {particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. 4. Number of admissions in which the patient had a 'poisoning (improper use) by steroids'(1) primary or secondary diagnosis: These figures represent the number of admissions where the diagnosis was recorded in any of the 14 primary and secondary diagnosis fields in a Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) record. Each admission episode is only counted once in each count, even if the diagnosis is recorded in more than one diagnosis field of the record.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

Vioxx

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department  (a) has undertaken,  (b) plans to undertake and  (c) has evaluated on (i) the side-effects of (A) Vioxx, (B) SSRI antidepressants and (C) Salmeterol and (ii) the use of complementary and alternative medicines to treat the conditions such drugs were developed to address; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: As with all medicines authorised in the United Kingdom, the safety of Vioxx (a selective COX-2 inhibitor for the treatment of arthritic conditions and acute pain), the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants and salmeterol (a long-acting adrenoceptor beta agonist, or LABA, used in the management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) are kept under close and continuous scrutiny by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) using a wide variety of data sources. These include spontaneous adverse drug data from the UK and worldwide, clinical trials and epidemiological studies, worldwide published medical literature, data from the manufacturer and information from worldwide regulatory authorities.
	If a new safety issue is identified, the MHRA thoroughly evaluates all relevant data with input from UK and European Expert Advisory Committees, as necessary. Action is taken where appropriate to minimise risk to patients, optimise safe use and issue updated prescribing advice.
	Vioxx (rofecoxib) was voluntarily withdrawn by the manufacturers in 2004 when the risk of thrombotic cardiovascular events became apparent. Although no formal research was undertaken directly by the Department, all available safety information was continuously evaluated by the MHRA as it emerged. Throughout these reviews, additional data and analyses were requested from the company where necessary to facilitate thorough assessment. Product information for prescribers and patients was updated during the course of these reviews, in line with expert advice.
	In response to public concern, in May 2003, an Expert Working Group was established to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the available data relating to the safety of SSRI antidepressants, in particular, the risk of suicidal behaviour and withdrawal reactions. The Expert Group considered the findings of laboratory, clinical and observational studies along with information relating to reports of patient experiences. In relation to the risk of suicidal behaviour, the MHRA conducted a study using the UK General Practice Research Database (GPRD). Full information on the data considered as part of this review has been published in the group's report which is available on the MHRA's website at:
	www.mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinformation/Safetywarningsalertsandrecalls/Safetywarningsandmessagesformedicines/CON1004259
	A copy has been placed in the Library.
	Since completion of this review, every effort has been made by the MHRA to evaluate new data as they have arisen and issue updated prescribing advice as appropriate. This has included updated advice regarding safety of use of paroxetine in pregnancy following findings from new international studies that certain birth defects are more common in babies whose mothers took paroxetine early in pregnancy. Further advice has also been issued regarding the risk of suicidal behaviour to reflect the findings of review of data from clinical trials conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration.
	The MHRA has evaluated the risk of side effects associated with use of salmeterol on a number of occasions, leading to updates to product information and communications to remind health care professionals of the appropriate use of LABAs in the treatment of asthma. The balance of risks and benefits of LABAs was recently reviewed and considered to be favourable in the treatment of asthma in adults and adolescents, provided they are used with inhaled corticosteroids.
	The MHRA have not received any applications for marketing authorisations for complementary or alternative medicines for the treatment of major conditions such as osteoarthritis or asthma, therefore the MHRA has not undertaken or evaluated any research in this area. The MHRA do not have any specific plans to undertake such research but would assess all data associated with any application, should one be received in the future.
	Some years ago, the MHRA considered a number of applications for marketing authorisations for products containing St. John's Wort ('Hypericum perforatum' L.) for mild to moderate depression. The data submitted by the companies intending to market the products, including any UK and international research, were thoroughly reviewed. However, the applications were refused due to lack of adequate evidence of safety and efficacy.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Internet

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish a copy of his Department's website accessibility plan.

Shaun Woodward: Accessibility standards of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) website are included in the Northern Ireland Office Departmental Disability Action Plan.
	The NIO website follows the internet standards of coding and design as set out by the World Wide Web Consortium. The website complies with WAI-AA standards, (World Accessibility Initiative AA standard). This means that the website conforms to level Double A for all priority one and two checkpoints defined in the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
	Accessibility standards are regularly reviewed.

Departmental Vehicles

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1068-9W, on departmental vehicles, what the cost of leasing the vehicles was in each of the last five years.

Shaun Woodward: The Department's expenditure on leased vehicles, excluding Agencies and Executive NDPBs, in the last five years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Expenditure () 
			 2007-08 42,827 
			 2006-07 24,277 
			 2005-06 43,005 
			 2004-05 59,361 
			 2003-04 65,633 
		
	
	Where possible, when a lease is up for renewal, the NIO considers all options in reducing costs to the department while maintaining the standard required.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Local Government Finance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which of the recommendations made by the Independent Licensing Fees Review Panel relating to local authority revenue and costs have been implemented to date.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Independent Licensing Fees Review Panel made recommendations on future fee levels, and identified a shortfall between local authority costs and income during the period of transition. The response to these matters needs to be agreed across Government and I hope to be able to respond shortly.

National Lottery: Complaints

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2009,  Official Report, column 984W, on National Lottery: complaints, what information is routinely collected by Camelot and the National Lottery Commission on disputes between retailers and players.

Barbara Follett: Complaints to the National Lottery Commission are dealt with on a case-by-case basis. It would not be possible to establish how many of the cases dealt with have involved a dispute between a player and retailer without a manual review of the correspondence for each case. This task could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost.
	The information routinely collected for any complaint or inquiry received by the Commission is:
	a. Information required for NLC performance monitoring and reporting.
	b. Correspondent contact details.
	c. A brief description of the nature of the inquiry or complaint.
	d. A note of the action taken.
	e. Correspondence and supporting information.
	Camelot has advised us that all player complaints are also recorded and dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The information collected varies according to the case in question.

TREASURY

Banks: Finance

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what capital adequacy ratio banks are required to maintain.

Ian Pearson: The capital adequacy ratio is the ratio of a bank's capital expressed as a percentage of its risk-weighted assets.
	The regulatory minimum ratio derives from the Basel 2 Accord, implemented in the European Union via the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD) which came into force on 1 January 2008 (Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC). The framework consists of three pillars. Pillar 1 sets the minimum capital requirements required to meet credit, market and operational risks. Pillar 2 requires firms and supervisors (in this case the Financial Services AuthorityFSA) to take a view on whether a firm should hold additional capital against risks not covered in Pillar 1. Pillar 3 requires firms to publish certain details of their capital and risk management.
	Full details of these capital requirements can be found in FSA GENPRU and BIPRU rulebooks, available via the FSA's website.
	The regulatory minimum capital adequacy ratio under Pillar 1 is 8 per cent. of total capital, of which a minimum of 4 per cent. must be tier 1 capital, which includes ordinary shares and reserves. In practice firms' regulatory capital may be higher than this, and firms may also decide to hold more capital than the regulatory minimum.
	As the FSA made clear in its statement of 19 January, the purpose of the recent bank recapitalisation exercise was to ensure that participating institutions held sufficient capital to ensure a buffer against challenging economic conditions. This did not constitute creating new statutory capital requirements for the UK banking sector.

Consolidated Fund

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid into the Consolidated Fund from fines in each year since 1997.

Yvette Cooper: The Consolidated Fund does not separately identify revenue surrendered to the Exchequer relating to fines. Public bodies involved in the collection of fines will hold the information on their revenue and will publish accounts of their activities.

Income Tax: Northern Ireland

Mark Durkan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people resident in each constituency in Northern Ireland were employed in the Republic of Ireland and were liable for UK income tax in  (a) 2005-06,  (b) 2006-07 and  (c) 2007-08.

Stephen Timms: Where a person is resident for tax purposes and domiciled in the United Kingdom, they pay tax on their worldwide income and gains in the United Kingdom on an arising basis subject to the application of any double taxation agreement.
	It is not possible to identify the country in which income arises or the nature of the income on which foreign tax has been paid. However, the number of individuals tax resident in Northern Ireland and claiming foreign tax credit relief for 2005-06 and 2006-07 are provided in the following table. This provides an upper limit to the number of individuals resident in Northern Ireland and employed in the Republic of Ireland. Information for 2007-08 is not yet available.
	
		
			  Number claiming foreign tax credit relief 
			  Constituency of residence  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Belfast, East 200 250 
			 Belfast, North 100 150 
			 Belfast, South 450 500 
			 Belfast, West 50 50 
			 East Antrim 250 250 
			 East Londonderry 300 350 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 750 800 
			 Foyle 600 600 
			 Lagan Valley 400 500 
			 Mid Ulster 250 350 
			 Newry and Armagh 850 950 
			 North Antrim 200 250 
			 North Down 400 450 
			 South Antrim 250 250 
			 South Down 600 650 
			 Strangford 350 400 
			 Upper Bann 300 350 
			 West Tyrone 500 600

Loans: Interest Rates

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what interest rate is used to assess the taxable benefit arising on beneficial loans; and whether this rate is changed in line with the Bank of England base rate.

Stephen Timms: The official rate of interest used to assess the taxable benefit arising on beneficial loans has been reduced from 6.25 per cent. to 4.75 per cent. with effect from 1 March 2009. The rate is set by reference to prevailing average bank and building society mortgage rates.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the hon. Member for Billericay's letter of 7 January 2009 on his constituent Mr D. Randall.

Ian Pearson: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the hon. Member for Billericay's letter of 14 January 2009 on his constituent Mr D. Williams.

Ian Pearson: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the hon. Member for Billericay's letters of 17 November 2008 and 22 January 2009 on his constituent Mrs N. Finley.

Stephen Timms: I replied to the hon. Member on 14 January.

Revenue and Customs: Security

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many breaches of security have occurred at HM Revenue and Customs in the last five years; and what procedures are followed when a breach of security relates to personal data.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 26 January 2009
	HMRC uses the term 'security incident' to relate to a wide range of security breaches, including unlocked cupboards or drawers within a locked building as well as losses, theft, suspicious behaviour and vandalism. These incidents also include near misses, which are monitored to identify potential weaknesses so that they can be put right. HMRC takes every security incident report seriously and deals with each one in accordance with its departmental guidance and procedures.
	Since HM Revenue and Customs' creation in April 2005 there have been a total of 11,266 reported security incidents among approximately 90,000 staff. HMRC has improved centralised control mechanisms and raised staff awareness about the importance of data security and the need to report all incidents.
	All incidents relating to personal data are investigated by senior managers within the responsible business area and incidents designated as serious are elevated to director level and to relevant external authorities if this is required. This system was introduced in August 2007, since when only 3.6 per cent. of all security incidents have been classified as serious.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the revenue to accrue from stamp duty land tax in 2009-10; on what assumptions this estimate is based; and what estimate he has made of the revenue which would be forgone in offering a stamp duty land tax holiday to first time housebuyers in the next 12 months.

Ian Pearson: The latest published forecast revenue from stamp duties for 2009-10 was given in table B12 of the PBR 2008. The published figure includes stamp duty land tax, stamp duty reserve tax and stamp duty, and was based on the PBR economic forecast and assumptions.
	An estimate of the cost of the current SDLT holiday, covering residential transactions completed between 3 September 2008 and 2 September 2009 with a selling price between 125,000 and 175,000, was also published in the PBR.
	No estimate has been made of the cost of the stamp duty holiday described.

Tax Evasion

Derek Twigg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies were employed in tackling tax (a) fraud and (b) evasion in each year since 1997.

Stephen Timms: HM Revenue and Customs' compliance activity covers all aspects of compliance behaviour from error through to evasion. As a consequence, it is not possible to provide the information requested.

Tax Evasion

Derek Twigg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of tax evasion in the last 12 months.

Stephen Timms: There are no estimates of the revenue lost specifically to tax evasion in the last 12 months. HMRC has published its latest available estimates of tax losses in the 2008 Autumn Performance Report:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/autumn-report-2008.pdf
	While the estimates given in this report include evasion they also encompass other causes of losses, for example, failure to take reasonable care and tax avoidance.

VAT: Construction

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the revenue effects would be of reducing the rate of value added tax on rebuilding and renovation work to  (a) 3 per cent.,  (b) 4 per cent.,  (c) 5 per cent.,  (d) 6 per cent.,  (e) 7 per cent.,  (f) 8 per cent. and  (g) 9 per cent.

Stephen Timms: Using data from the Office for National Statistics' Construction Statistics Annual 2008, and assuming all of this expenditure to have been subject to the standard rate of VAT (17.5 per cent. in 2007) then the following illustrative costs can be estimated for different rates:
	
		
			  Alternative VAT rate (percentage)  Illustrative revenue impact, ( million) 
			 3 -2,100 
			 4 -1,950 
			 5 -1,800 
			 6 -1,650 
			 7 -1,500 
			 8 -1,350 
			 9 -1,200 
			  Note: Under EU laws the minimum permitted reduced rate of VAT is 5 per cent. 
		
	
	These estimates are very tentative. The definition of expenditure used in the data covers a wide range of activities, some of which will already be subject to the current 5 per cent. reduced rate of VAT (while complete demolitions and rebuilds of houses are currently zero rated). The estimates also do not factor in behavioural responses, the current 15 per cent. standard rate of VAT, those businesses not registered for VAT or developments in the relevant markets since 2007.

WALES

Departmental Internet

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a copy of his Department's website accessibility plan.

Paul Murphy: The Wales office seeks to make its website accessible and easy to use for everyone, no matter what browser they use.
	Wales office website accessibility is guided by the Worldwide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and intends to comply with Level Double-A of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by December 2009.
	Details on accessibility can be found on the Wales Office website:
	www.walesoffice.gov.uk/footer/accessibility

SCOTLAND

Railways

Charles Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will work with the Scottish Executive to secure the  (a) replacement of Caledonian sleeper rolling stock and  (b) long-term operation of the cross-border service.

Ann McKechin: My right hon. Friend is happy to work with the Scottish Government and his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport on these matters. Sleeper services are an integral part of the First Scot Rail franchise agreement, which is managed by the Scottish Government. I understand that the recent Franchise Extension Agreement includes an obligation for First Scot Rail to develop additional proposals to improve the sleeper service.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Houses of Parliament: VAT

Francis Maude: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission whether the retail ticket prices for the summer opening tours of Parliament will be reduced in line with the reduction in valued added tax.

Nick Harvey: Yes. The summer opening programme has to break even over a three-year period, during which time prices are held; the current period is 2007-09. Full price adult tickets sold for the 2008 summer opening cost 12. With the reduction in VAT rate, in 2009 these will cost 11.70. Other ticket types will be similarly reduced.

PICT: Electronic Equipment

Rosie Cooper: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission when the trial of use of BlackBerries by PICT staff will be completed.

Nick Harvey: Parliamentary ICT (PICT) commenced a 60 day trial of Research in Motion's BlackBerry service using their Blackberry Enterprise Service on 9 February 2009. The trial will be completed by mid-April and will then be evaluated.